


The Villain of Lazytown

by Breakfastandfurious



Series: A World Full of Wonder [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, Festering ships, M/M, Mild Language, The Plot Thickens, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-11-07 04:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 48,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11051781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Breakfastandfurious/pseuds/Breakfastandfurious
Summary: Robbie Rottenham has reached the end of his patience with Sportacus (local friendly bandit, elf of mysterious origins, and recent kidnapper of a certain pink princess). In order to beat the Blue Bandit, Robbie confronts some dangerous truths- and must suffer the consequences.An au based on the s4 episodes 'the Princess of Lazytown' and 'the Blue Knight'.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing The Princess of Lazytown:
> 
> We last left Robbie all alone after being defeated once again by Sportacus and his bandit brats. What's worse is that Stephanie herself had shunned him, after all the trouble he'd gone through to bring her home...

The clouds darkened before the rain came. Warm spring showers quickly turned to a heavy drizzle. Outdoors, there was no way to stay dry.  
Sportacus loved jumping in puddles, and everyone but Stephanie and Stingy joined him playing in the newly muddy ground. An aggressive mud fight ensued, the messy fun only dampened by the reality of having to get clean in the chilly river. Wet clothes were hung on a line inside the treehouse to dry, and the participants huddled on the floor, shivering. Sportacus was on the roof setting up the canopy he used to cover his hammock in the colder months. He was too big to sleep inside. Pixel brought out a gizmo that filled the treehouse with a comfortable warmth, and they were suddenly cozy, listening to the rain fall on the tree. It rained the rest of the day, and the day after.

 

Robbie peered into his crystal ball. The blue elf was somewhere in the woods, standing barefoot on top of a boulder. For god knows what reason, he was stretching in the rain. With one foot on the rock and the other pulled in a straight line up above his head, he looked like some kind of land fish standing on its tail. Robbie watched skeptically as Sportacus lowered his leg and stretched it behind him, reaching back to grip his foot. He arched his back and pulled the leg straight up in a perfect line. Robbie was not impressed. He searched the scene for anything suspicious. The elf's hat was off and his pointy ears were visible amid the damp hair plastered to his head. His vest was also on the ground, and the white shirt he wore underneath was transparent from the rain. Robbie could see in the crystal ball's image that he wore some kind of necklace beneath it. As Sportacus switched to a handstand, the necklace fell out of his shirt and hung down past his face, but it was impossible to tell what was dangling on the chain. All Robbie had was a fine view of the mans rippling muscles, soaked with rain and sweat and increasing visible as his shirt fell down around his shoulders.

There was no way it was necessary to have that many muscles, thought Robbie. Not that he was looking. He looked anyway, and something caught his eye. The bandit had lines on his upper back. Not just from muscle definition, though those were certainly there as well. Scar lines, old but visible. They were striped across his shoulders and seemed to continue around to his chest. What were they? Sportacus flipped back into his feet, and Robbie suddenly felt guilty, like he had seen too much. He reminded himself that the man was actually a child snatcher disguised as a beautiful- disguised as a bandit. Kidnappers forfeited their right to privacy. Nevertheless, Robbie dispelled the image from the crystal with a sigh, but not before noting that the bandits mustache was still impeccably straight despite the relentless rain.

Robbie coaxed the crystal to show him outside the castle, a view he could achieve by walking a short distance to top of gate but was ultimately too lazy to do so. The road outside was gloomy and waterlogged, trailing away into misty sheets of rain. A shape appeared beyond the mist. Was he seeing things? Robbie blinked his tired eyes and looked again. Sure enough, there was something on the road, moving toward the castle. He adjusted his view for a closer look, nearly dropping the crystal ball when he recognized what was approaching. It was the Purple Knight's servant and another man he didn't recognize, both on horseback and armed with swords at their thighs. The other man carried the Knight's banner, its symbol a purple dragon.

"LORD MILFORD!" Robbie bellowed, setting the crystal ball on the library table and sprinting the length of the hall and down the stairs. "MILFORD!"

"Oh my, what's all the ruckus?" Lord Milford appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, stirring a kettle. Robbie slapped the spoon and kettle to the floor and began dragging poor Milford up the stairs.

"What are you doing?! What's going on? Please let go of me! Sir Robert!" He protested. Robbie released him and he took a second to mourn the loss of his cocoa before his friend explained himself.

"The servant is back."

"Who, the Purple Knight's servant?"

"I'm afraid so, and he's brought company. They look like they mean business." Robbie emphasized.

"Oh dear. We must hurry! Quick, get your sword and- for heavens sake put on your boots at least! You can't be seen in slippers!" Milford hurried away. "Meet me over the gate as soon as you can!"

"R-right." Sir Robert was slightly stunned by Milford's take-charge attitude. Where had that come from? He wondered as he hopped on one foot, trying to wrestle into his tall leather boots. He had gotten one on when he remembered that he could instantly change his clothes using magic.

A minute later he was on the bridge above the gate with Milford, who had put on his shoes and cloak and looked unprecedentedly dignified. Robbie attempted to sheathe his sword, missing the sheath twice before resigning to hold it in his hand. He hadn't used a sword in ages, but it was a nice touch.

"There they are." Milford said, nodding at the road before them. Two riders were approaching on black horses, the purple banner flapping damply behind them. Robbie wiped the rainwater from his eyes and steadied himself as the horsemen pulled up at the gate.

"Hello there, Lord Milford!" Called the familiar servant. He stood up in his stirrups and shielded his eyes from the drizzle. "Let us in! We have business with you."

"Hello there, servants of the Purple Knight." Milford replied. "So sorry, but I will not grant you entry into my castle until you have stated your business."

"The Purple Knight wishes to negotiate with his niece, the Princess of Lazytown." The servant replied, shifting back into the saddle. "He invokes his right to speak with her."

"He has no such right, and the Princess will not negotiate with him under any circumstance." Milford stated firmly. Water dripped from his determined brow.

"Is her highness unavailable?" The servant sneered. "Has she gone back to the circus show where you found her? I must say, she was a dead ringer for the queen, but it's always obvious when someone isn't true royalty."

Robbie bristled. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword while he imagined giving the rascal a piece of his mind. Milford remained unphased.

"If the Purple Knight wishes to negotiate with my niece and I," he began. "He must come and do it himself. We don't entrust these matters with serving men."

Rather than looking offended, the servants face split into a devious grin. He glanced expectantly at his companion, who handed him the banner so his hands were free to lift off his helmet. Long brown curls cascaded over his shoulders, and glancing to the side, Robbie noticed that a crack finally appeared in Milford's composure.

"But I am here, Milford." The Purple Knight smiled with mustached lips. "Now, you're not going to force your brother in law to stand outside in this miserable rain, are you?"

Milford looked as though that was exactly what he would like to do. But he nudged Robbie.

"Open the gate." He said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Knight time!!!
> 
> Milford needs a break...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you're backed up against the wall...
> 
> Lie for all you're worth.

The Purple Knights horse stamped impatiently as Sir Robert unlocked the gate. He stole a final glance at Milford, who stood by his side, before pulling open the heavy iron gate. The hinges squeaked shrilly as the two riders ducked beneath the low overhead and trotted into the courtyard. The servant hopped down and held the bridle of the other horse while the Purple Knight dismounted. He stalked over to Milford and Robbie, his armor clanking beneath his heavy purple cloak.

"Milford." He greeted, still smilingly smugly.

"Hello, Jean. It's been quite some time since you were last here, hasn't it?" Milford asked rhetorically. Stalling.

"Five years, I believe. Still haven't fixed up the place, I see. Ah, such wasted potential." Jean looked mournfully around the wet courtyard.

"We've been busy. It takes a village to raise a child, you know. Especially when you must raise the child to take care of the village."

The Purple Knight laughed.

"I see. You must have your hands full here, ruling over this little town and training the little princess. Tell me, how old is my niece?"

"Elev-" Milford began but Robbie cut in.

"Thirteen." He stated loudly. "She'll be thirteen at the end of summer."

"Thirteen?" Jean raised his eyebrows. "Thirteen years you hid my brothers child from me. I would be impressed if only you could prove her existence. Where is she?"

"She's visiting Lady Busybody." Milford said at the same time that Robbie said: "She's ill."

They looked at each other in alarm. The Knight waited skeptically.

"What I mean is," Milford said quickly. "She fell ill because of the rain, so Lady Busybody is taking care of her at her house. Such a caring woman, you know. Stephanie is in good hands, I assure you."

"Why don't we go pay Stephanie a visit then?" The Purple Knight suggested, not backing down.

"Well, you see, she's contagious. It's been going around town actually. Everyone is sniffling. Sir Robert and I recovered already, but I'm afraid I can't expose you to the...the-"

"Precipititus." Robbie finished. "A disease native to Lazytowners, I'm afraid someone from Rottington like yourself may not recover from it."

"Is that so?" Jean scoffed, narrowing his eyes. He looked hesitant. "You say the whole town is sick? How long does the contagion last?"

"Only a week or two. Or three." Milford said nervously. "She must stay in a dark room and not be disturbed until she's recovered."

"Well, isn't that disappointing." The Knight wiped the rain from his eyes and scowled at his servant. "We ride all the way here and find no princess. Pity. Suppose her highness never recovers? I would graciously take over her responsibilities and rule from this castle if something were to happen to poor Stephanie."

Milford and Robbie exchanged an uneasy look. The Purple Knight tilted his head back with a satisfied smile.

"How is your bandit problem, by the way?" He asked provocatively. Milford had to subtly restrain Robbie. His hand was on his sword, now in its scabbard as he tapped it furiously against his leg.

"We hope to be rid of them soon." Milford replied. The rain was falling harder but he barely noticed.

"Very soon." Robbie growled, fixing his glare on the Purple Knight. "Sooner than you expect."

"Really?" Jean looked unsurprised, almost amused. "Well, in that case, I think I'll take my leave. I have business to attend elsewhere."

"I'll bet you do." Robbie earned a silencing nudge from Milford.

"I wish you good luck." Milford said with deadly politeness. His brother-in-law sneered.

"I don't believe in luck."

"Oh, that's too bad." Milford shrugged. The Purple Knight turned to his servant, who stood by with the horses.

"Kit, we're leaving." The servant nodded and brought the knights horse forward. He kneeled on the ground, cupping his masters foot in his hands to assist him onto the horse. The knight shifted in the rain-soaked saddle. "Miserable weather."

Kit the servant mounted his own horse and passed the Purple Knight his banner and helmet. He nudged his horse nonchalantly toward the two men on the ground.

"I hope Princess Stephanie is able to return soon. I'll be back in two weeks, so give her my regards." He slid the helmet on his head and snapped down the visor. The black horses galloped off through the puddles on the ground, spraying Milford and Robbie with muddy water. They watched their adversaries ride through the gate and disappear into the rain.

"That could have gone worse." Milford said with a sigh. He shivered, realizing that he was soaked to the bone. Robbie quivered beside him, not saying a word. Milford furrowed his brow in concern. "Come on, Sir Robert. Let's go get warmed up before we actually get sick."

 

Later, they sat in the steaming hot bathtub, a welcome change from the freezing rain outdoors. Milford aggressively tried to relax, but Robbie was on a tirade.

"You heard him, right? He mentioned the bandits to taunt us! Ugh, it's obvious he had a hand in Stephanie's disappearance. He's probably paying off Spo- the Blue Bandit for his dirty work while we sit here! I should-" he attempted climb out of the bathtub, but Milford grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the water.

"Calm down, Sir Robert. We must think carefully before taking action. This could be a dangerous situation." He scolded. Robbie sank frustratedly into the steaming water.

"Where did this confidence come from?" Robbie gestured to other man. "No offense, my lord, but it's not like you to take charge."

"No offense taken, my friend. I know I'm timid by nature, but Lady Busybody has been helping me be more...assertive. I thought it might help in a situation like this, but it sure doesn't come naturally." Milford's voice began to drift. "She's such a remarkable woman once you really know her."

"She's very resilient." Agreed Robbie. "When you consider what she's been through."

"Milford! There you are!" The two men jumped as Bessie Busybody appeared in the doorway, her rain-soaked cloak trailing on the floor behind her. "I was calling you but you must not have heard me."

"Lady Busybody!" Milford squeaked, attempting to hide behind the wall of the tub. Robbie had almost disappeared into the depths entirely. "What brings you here? How did you get in?"

"The gate was unlocked when I got here. Really, Sir Robert, the security around here needs work. You mustn't be negligent." Robbie poked his head out of the water indignantly, as she dropped her cloak to the floor and began unwinding the long silk scarf wrap wrapped around her head. "I am thoroughly soaked to the bone, and I bet you can guess who I just ran into in town."

"Who?" Milford asked anyway.

 

_Bessie hurried through the town square. She had had an appointment with Needy Needles the tailor she had been determined to keep, rain or no rain. The tailors shop was an excellent place for gossip as well, and she had learned some relevant information to share with Milford. On her way to the castle, two men on black horses had ridden up to her. She recognized the banner one of them carried before she saw his face._

_"Lady Bessie!" The Purple Knight had greeted odiously. "What a pleasure! I haven't seen you in so long."_

_"Never long enough, Sir Jean. I'm sure the pleasure is all yours." She had replied curtly._

_"Of course. How is life treating you? Still married?"_

_"Widowed."_

_"Oh, I'm deeply sorry."_

_"Don't be. What brings you to Lazytown in this weather?" She could guess the answer._

_"I came to see my dear niece. You see, we haven't gotten a chance to meet, sadly, and now she is supposedly not available." He watched her expectantly, as if waiting for a reaction._

_"Yes, that's correct." She said stoically. "Come back again later, in a year or two perhaps."_

_The Purple Knight had laughed defensively._

_"I was told the princess was staying with you, currently. What are you doing about town when you have a guest?"_

_"Not that it's any of your business," Bessie snapped. "But I'm buying remedies. This weather does terrible things for the health."_

_She had sniffled a bit, and the Knights face had sobered._

_"Don't stay out too long." He had said before lowering his visor and riding away. She watched the horses splash along the cobblestone streets, and then pulled down her hood and hurried toward the castle._

 

"I knew it was bad news, him being here. I came straight away to learn more." She kicked away her fancy boots and slipped her petticoat off beneath her dress.

"Lady Busybody!" Milford cried as she climbed into the bathtub between him and Robbie, still wearing her dress. "What are you doing?"

"I am freezing, Milford. And don't be like that, I've seen naked men before. Now, I don't know if you noticed, but the people in town know."

"They know what?"

"They know that Stephanie is with the bandits. Apparently she was in town the other day, running about with a boy from the Blue Bandit's group. Oh, and the Blue Bandit was there as well."

"Of course." Robbie groaned, smacking a wet hand over his eyes. "That was when- wait, and no one thought to rescue her while she was just out in the open?"

"Well, no one thought of it like that, Sir Robert. They assumed she was a friend of the Bandits. Needy Needles was confused when I suggested she had been kidnapped, because it's believed that you approved of the situation."

"WHY WOULD I-" Robbie threw up his hands and fell back against the side of the tub with a splash. His knees were cramped against his chest. "That man is dangerous! Can't anyone see that?"

"What he means is," Milford explained. "We think there may be a connection between the Blue Bandit and the Purple Knight. It's awfully convenient for Stephanie to disappear just as Jean comes to claim the castle."

"You think that that brute hired our bandit to kidnap your niece?" Bessie clicked her tongue. "Now that is a conspiracy."

"We don't know for sure." He added.

"Except the Purple Knight all but confirmed it while he was here, that gloating snake." Robbie growled.

"He did seem to be baiting us rather heavily." Milford admitted.

"I think you two are missing an important point." Bessie said, adjusting her floating skirts. "Stephanie was in town recently, and she was unharmed. For the moment, she's out of Jean's hands, and there's probably still time to keep it that way."

"Unless he's off to the bandit's camp right now, 'taking care of business'." Robbie put his pointy chin in his palm and drummed his fingers against his lips. There was silence in the bathtub.

"Wait!" Robbie grabbed the sides of the tub and stood up suddenly, sending a good portion of water spilling to the floor. "The crystal ball! I can find out where he's going!"

He clambered out of the tub, slipped on the wet floor, and stumbled out of the room. He reappeared a moment later to snatch his clothes off the line before running off naked, tunic in hand. Bessie and Milford looked at each other.

"The crystal what?" Bessie repeated. A wet curl fell on her face. "Oh, Milford! My hair is ruined!"

"...We are in the bathtub," was all Milford could say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last
> 
> Robbie has brought N U D I T Y to the story
> 
> (feat. Milford)
> 
> (sue me)


	3. Chapter 3

"There you are." Robbie whispered.

He had gotten the crystal to reveal the Purple Knight and his servant riding through the woods. They were taking a main road, the one that the bandits reportedly had attacked on before. That was suspicious. He dispelled the image and conjured a view of the Blue Bandit. Sportacus had apparently finished his barefoot-in-the-rain exercises and now crouched in a tree near the edge of the road- the same road the Knight was taking. Extremely suspicious. The bandit was scanning down the road with a spyglass. Robbie managed to alter the viewpoint to see what he was looking for, and gasped when the shapes of two riders appeared in the distance. His vision flew back to Sportacus, who put away the spyglass and lowered his mask, concealing his face. Instantly, the image in the crystal ball faded.

"No no no! No!" Robbie furiously tried to bring him back but it was no use. The bandit must have spells in his mask like the ones he found in Stephanie's. Spells to hide him. He recalled that Stephanie's red mask was still in his room. "Ha! At least you can't hide from me."

The image of Stephanie was blurry and kept becoming distorted, like there was some kind of magical interference. She was sitting inside a wooden room, quietly embroidering on a shirt. Robbie felt an ache in his chest as he watched her delicately push and pull her needle through the fabric. He had taught her to make the tiniest stitches, to transform thread into flowers and feathers, soft fur and sharp scales. He'd shown her how to wet the thread with her mouth when she got frustrated threading the tiny eye of the embroidery needle. Now there she was, miles from his protection, her image blurring before him and he longed to see what she was working on. Longed to look over her shoulder and compliment and tease as he embroidered his own piece beside her. But the image became too muddled and faded from view. Robbie slumped against his chair in the library, staring at the couch opposite him where Stephanie would sit during lessons. It was empty. Lonely. Like him.

"I'm alone..." He murmured, sinking into the chair. His exhaustion was overtaking him. "All alone..."

Robbie let out a fitful snore as his mind dragged him down to the darkest depths of sleep.

_He was small again. As small as he'd been at ten years old, staring up at the sky beyond the castle walls. The cold air bit at his bare hands and feet. His vision shook as a tall figure approached, clad in shining armor. The Blue Knight._

_"Where's my child, Robbie?" The knight's voice echoed metallically from within the expressionless helmet._

_"Your brother took her! There was nothing I could do!" Robbie cried, his words dissolving the instant they left his throat._

_"Is that true?" The knight asked. His armor began to fall away like sand. Robbie saw that it wasn't the face of the Blue Knight beneath the helmet, but his wife. The queen._

_"Martha!" He gasped. He moved to embrace her, but his arms were too weak to lift. "Martha, you have to come back! Your daughter needs you, she won't listen to me. I need you..."_

_Martha's sharp features were unchanged as he pleaded. She wore the same cold indifference he'd seen on Stephanie the last time they'd met. Her hair, the same rose pink as her daughters, swayed contemptuously around her jaw. Robbie felt he was made of glass, with ice creeping over his fragile surface._

_"This is your fault." It was exactly Martha's voice. The voice that could only be heard in his head for the last six years. He felt his glass body flood with cracks and shatter._

Robbie woke to the sound of the crystal ball shattering on the library floor. It had slipped from his hands while he dreamed. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the mess. Then he fell out of the chair onto glass shard covered floor.

"No..." He breathed, scooping a handful of pieces and dropping them. Panic was rising inside him. Not thinking fully, he dashed from the library, staggering down the hall and up the stairs until he reached a door. He panted as he leaned against the wood. It was Stephanie's room, and as long as he didn't enter he could pretend for a moment she was still inside. He thought of the queen's room and how he'd played that game for months. Locking the door and hoping that he wouldn't have face her absence until she returned. He kept himself busy as the months turned to years, her tiny pink daughter his distraction. He had considered them orphaned together.

But keeping the door closed hadn't made Martha come back, and it wouldn't help Stephanie.

"Not this time," he gritted his teeth and banged open the door in a blast of magic. The room was familiar like a childhood relic, decorated with carefree innocence. But Robbie knew what pollution hid beneath the four-poster bed. He dived for the narrow space and pulled out book after book of fairytales, throwing them into a pile on the rug. He stopped at the third copy of Robin Hood, staring with disgust at the cover. He flipped through the pages, drinking in the illustrations of the heroic bandit performing feats of archery, theft, deception and violence. The other characters found him to be a great hero, hypnotized by his skill, his smile, his mustache. The bandit was always right. The bandit was always good. The bandit was never beaten. Robbie flung the book onto the pile and slumped to the floor, pushing the heels of his hands in his eyes. Now he knew what compelled the princess to follow Sporta-fake. He embodied her idol, her hero. And Robbie was the villain- always one step behind the clever hero, seeking to end the fun. Never winning.

Robbie rocked back and forth on the floor, hands against his eyes and fingers twisting into his hair. So, he was a villain, was he? Of course, that's how it worked in real life. He was the responsible one, he was in the right. That cunning blue elf couldn't hide behind his charm forever. Robbie would just have to be a better villain than Robin Hood had ever faced. He removed his hands from his face and his eyes fell on the discarded book. It lay open on a page with an illustration of Robin Hood in chains, led away by a triumphant dark haired man. Interesting. Robbie snatched the book and read the text accompanying the picture.

" _The Nottingham Archery Competition_." He read the chapter title aloud, feeling a scheme forming in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were probably better names for Steph's mom but I made it up on the fly a while ago and now am stuck with it. eh.
> 
> Robbie is a genius and is 100% guaranteed to suffer
> 
> But who knows. Maybe he'll get lucky.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the third day of rain, and the children were growing restless. All but Trixie, who put on a beat up hat and braved the downpour each morning to practice her archery among the trees. She was hitting more targets than me missed now, and the other kids could hear the steady thwip! of her bowstring echo as she released arrow after arrow. Finally, Stephanie could stand it no longer.

"Come on, Stingy." She said, pulling on her boots. "Let's go practice swords."

"Outside? In the rain?" Stingy raised his eyebrows. "But my clothes will get wet!"

"You can wear my cloak if you want." Stephanie he offered. 

"The expensive pink one?" Stingy considered for a moment. "All right then."

Their wooden swords clacked as Stingy parried each thrust Stephanie delivered. He adjusted his footing on the muddy ground.

"Give it up, this round is mine!" He challenged.

"That's what you think!" Stephanie dodged Stingy's downward slicing sword, lunging to smack him in the thigh with her blade. "Got you!"

"Ow!" Stingy squeaked and rubbed his leg.

"That was the third hit, I win again." She wiped the rain from her face, grinning. Stingy's hood had fallen off and his dark hair was plastered to his head.

"Hm. Best of three." He lunged forward, taking Stephanie by surprise and getting a hit on her arm. "First strike: me!"

"No fair!" Stephanie cried, switching to defense. They battled for a while until both had two strikes on the other. With a mighty swing, Stingy knocked Stephanie's sword from her hand, sending it flying into a puddle. She yelped and fled out of reach of Stingy's sword, diving to pick up her blade in time to block his next hit.

"Ew, you're using that? It's all dirty."

Stephanie looked at the muddy sword in her hand. Stingy took the distraction as an opportunity to land his final hit on her stomach.

"Hey!" She doubled over. "You fight dirty for someone who doesn't like dirt!"

"You have your methods, I have mine." Said Stingy smugly, shaking the water off his sword. "Oh look, there's Sportacus."

"I'm not falling for that one." Stephanie turned her head anyway to see Sportacus coming toward them, jumping into every mud puddle on the way. He splashed to a stop.

"Practicing swords? That's great!" He gestured for them to continue. "Show me what you're working on?"

"Watch this." Said Stephanie. She raised her sword and charged at Stingy. He shrieked, parried and fled. Sportacus laughed and ran to the rescue.

The fourth day the rain trickled to a halt as the clouds finally lifted. Beams of sunlight filtered through patches of blue sky, and Pixel was excited.

"Finally! Sunlight! I can't wait to charge these." He scurried down from the treehouse with a box of crystals cradled in his arm. Trixie slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder, ready to get back to the grind. Stingy gathered his neatly folded cleaning cloths and set off to polish his collection.

"What do you wannna do today now that the sun's out, Stephanie, huh?" Ziggy bounced up and down on the squishy grass.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Stephanie replied. The boy stopped bouncing and bit his finger pensively.

"No one usually asks me that. I- I'm not sure what I want." He thought came to him. "Candy! I want candy!"

"Candy?"

"Well, I ate all I had during the rain, so we could go get some more from town."

"I don't know. You think it's a good idea?" She glanced around, unaware what she was looking for.

"It's a great idea! And it would be soooo much fun if you and I went- I could show you the candy shop, and the taffy, and the lollipops, and the taffy-" Ziggy rambled on dreamily.

"You already said taffy." Stephanie said with mock scorn. They both giggled. "Okay then. We should tell everyone where we're going and make sure it's alright first."

A few minutes later the two children were on their way to Lazytown, with a few coins and a few requests for various items. Pixel asked for some dried lavender, Trixie wanted a pouch to carry extra bowstrings, and Stingy specifically wanted a golden bar of soap that turned things to gold (a bit unrealistic, they told him, but promised to look). The candy shop was near the center of town, where most of the businesses were. Miss Zweets, the owner, was delighted to see the bandit children enter her shop.

"Isn't it a lovely day for candy?" She hummed while she cut a long length of licorice into pieces on the counter, giving them both a bit to try.

"It's always a good day for candy!" Ziggy readily replied. Then he steadied himself with a more reserved tone. "Although, Sportacus says the best way to eat candy is to save it all for one day of the week. That's candy day."

"Well, today must be candy day! I'll give you some free lollipops to celebrate the good weather." Miss Zweets opened a glass jar and passed Ziggy a handful of the lollipops. She then did the same for Stephanie, giving her a wink. "Enjoy, your highness."

Stephanie blushed. "Thank you."

"So, what's it like living with the Blue Bandit? Do you like it more than the castle? That man really is an interesting character, isn't he. He fixed my leaky roof yesterday- in the dead of night. So exciting!" Miss Zweets bubbled. Stephanie got the feeling that this was one of Lady Busybody's closer friends. She glanced at Ziggy, who was occupied perusing the display of taffy.

"Spo- he's really cool. The Blue Bandit." Stephanie caught herself, realizing that not everyone may know Sportacus's name. "I really love the woods so far. Ziggy was the first kid I met."

"That's wonderful, dear. Oh, are any of you going to enter the archery competition tomorrow? It was announced this morning and the town is just buzzing! The prize is a golden apple- imagine having an apple made of gold!"

"Archery competition?" That sounded right up Sportacus's alley. He could literally win while standing on his head. The prize didn't sound too shabby either. Miss Zweets shuffled a sheet of paper toward her and Stephanie skimmed the flyer quickly. It was going to be held at noon the next day (weather permitting or not).

"Ziggy! That's a lot of taffy." Stephanie folded her arms at the boy, who had a toppling pile of candy in his hands.

"It's for everyone!" He exclaimed, then hesitantly put a third of the taffy back.

They picked up the lavender from the apothecary, and it came in a little pouch that was a reasonable size to hold bowstrings. That covered Pixel and Trixie's requests, and true to their word they asked the soap maker if he had any golden soap. The answer was no, but he sent them on their way with a bar of lemon scented soap as thanks for the Blue Bandit bailing out his flooded shed. Stephanie couldn't wait to get back to camp and tell Sportacus about the competition.

"Archery competition?" He repeated, fiddling thoughtfully with the end of his mustache. "That sounds fun."

"Yeah! You're great at shooting arrows, Sportacus! You should go and win it!" Ziggy chewed excitedly on a lollipop.

"The prize is a golden apple." Added Stephanie.

"I do love apples." Sportacus admitted. "But I can think of someone else who might like to compete instead."

"Who?" She asked. He nodded his head toward Trixie, who was returning from target practice, swiveling her sore arm as she walked. Sportacus waved her over.

"What's up? Did you get my pouch?" She asked. Ziggy handed her the lavender pouch. "Sweet."

"How is your bow practice, Trixie?" Sportacus inquired, quirking an eyebrow.

"Amazing. I've pretty much mastered it, except sometimes the bow is stupid and disagrees." She shrugged. Sportacus handed her the flyer. "What's this? A competition? I don't need other people's judgement."

"Competitions are fun! You get to meet other archers, and perform and win prizes. I think you should try it." 

"Well..." Trixie furrowed her brow at the paper.

"Come on, Trixie! We'll all cheer for you." Offered Ziggy.

"Yeah, and we can help you practice. We could have a pretend competition here first to make you less nervous." Stephanie suggested.

"That's a great idea! What do you say, Trixie?" Sportacus waited patiently for her answer. Trixie looked up from the flyer with a smirk.

"Do you think I can win?"

"Only if you believe you can." He winked. "I think you have a good shot."

"Fine. I'm gonna win this thing tomorrow, and then I'm going to throw the apple in the river to tick off Stingy. Ha ha!"

"That's the spirit!" Sportacus encouraged. "Well, sort of..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little late becauuuse i've been going through some stuff and got distracted. But today's my birthday and tomorrow I get to see a gender therapist so PEACE!! :D
> 
>  
> 
> Dont let Sportacus eat that golden apple.


	5. Chapter 5

Trixie notched her arrow and took a deep breath in as she drew it back. This was it. The winning shot. She breathed out and released the arrow. It flew slightly to the left of the bullseye, landing in the third ring. 

"Damn it!" She swore quietly and grabbed her shoulder. Stupid sore muscles. 

"Yay Trixie!" Her friends cheered from the 'sidelines'. She sighed. She had just lost a fake archery competition with herself. 

"What did I do wrong?" She asked Sportacus, who was examining the target.

"You didn't do anything wrong," He began.

"Well that arrow isn't in the center so tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it." She snapped. Sportacus pulled the arrow out of the target and presented it to Trixie. She snatched it back, a bit embarrassed of her outburst.

"Try to relax." He suggested. "Take a break and distract yourself. Let your mind solve the problem while it rests."

"How does that work?" Trixie snorted. Sportacus held out his hands, and she passed him the bow and arrow. She watched as he loaded the small bow, drew back and fired the arrow directly into the center of the bullseye.

"Works pretty good." He handed her the bow and went to disperse the cheering section. Trixie studied the bow. It had hardly left her hands in the last few days. If taking breaks worked for Sportacus, maybe there was some merit. 

 

Trixie sat on a boulder by the river. Her legs were crossed in a way she had seen Sportacus doing while 'meditating'. She was meditating. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Relax, she told herself. Was she relaxing hard enough? It wasn't easy to tell, meditation seemed suspiciously similar to doing nothing. She began to wonder if it was an elaborate excuse to take naps.

"Hi Trixie!" Ziggy's voice startled her out of her musings. "What are you doing?"

"I'm meditating, duh." She rolled her eyes. "I need quiet, so go bother Pinkie. Isn't she your new best friend?"

"I guess she's my 'newest' best friend. Want some candy?" Undeterred, Ziggy climbed on top io the boulder and plopped down next to Trixie, kicking his short legs as he offered her a piece of sticky taffy.

"Ziggy, I have a sports competition to win tomorrow. I can't have candy." 

"But you can take naps?"

Trixie's slumped over her crossed legs.

"It does look like napping, huh? I don't get meditation." She idly picked up a loose pebble and chucked it into the moving water. It bounced twice off the surface.

"Whoah! That's so cool! Can you do it again?" Ziggy's eyes were wide with wonder. Trixie skipped another rock. Ziggy tried a few times, his pebbles landing with a plop! straight downward. Trixie showed him how to turn his wrist just right and his eyes shone when his rock skipped once. They sat throwing rocks and nibbling on the taffy, until Ziggy made the mistake of throwing his candy in the river and biting down on a pebble.

"Ow!" He cried, spitting out the pebble. 

"What did you do?" 

"I bit the rock- wait it's still in my mouth. Puh!" He spit again into his hand and showed it to Trixie. Her gaze flitted from the object in Ziggy's hand to his face.

"I'm not trying to freak you out here, Ziggy," she grimaced. "But that's not a rock..."

 

Sportacus ran anxiously toward the group of kids huddled around Ziggy. Something was wrong, but as he neared the kids seemed more fascinated than concern. Ziggy spotted him approaching.

"Sportacus ! Sportacus look!" The boy held up a tiny object for the bandit to see. "I lost my first tooth!"

Sportacus inspected the tiny white tooth, his smile growing.

"This is amazing!" He said softly. Ziggy showed him the gap in his top teeth. "The tooth fairy is going to give you a lot of gifts for this tooth."

"Tooth fairy?" Ziggy was confused.

"Pfft. The tooth fairy isn't real, that's just made up for babies." Scoffed Trixie. Sportacus shook his head.

"I know the tooth fairy is real because I met her once." He said smugly.

"Really?" Ziggy's mouth went slack.

"Really. It was a long time ago, but I'm sure she's still around. Put your tooth under your pillow tonight and you'll find out."

"And what does this 'tooth fairy' allegedly exchange for lost teeth?" Inquired Stingy with intense curiosity.

"Coins, mostly." Sportacus replied. "The healthier the tooth the more gifts she'll leave. Have you been brushing well, Ziggy?"

"Everyday! Except, I have eaten a lot of candy..." He looked sullenly at his tooth.

"Well, it's your first baby tooth. I'm sure it's special enough that the tooth fairy won't mind."

"Why hasn't she ever given me coins?" Whined Stingy. "I lost all of my baby teeth! I still have them, too."

"Ew! Stingy! You're not supposed to keep them!" Stephanie covered her eyes in horror.

"You have a rotten tooth collection too?" Trixie nodded in approval.

"You should hand those over to the tooth fairy for safe keeping." Pixel suggested. "There's a lot of magical energy in baby teeth. They could be pretty powerful."

"Do you think she accepts 'overdue returns'?" 

"It couldn't hurt to try. Think of the coins you could get out of what, twenty teeth?"

"That's twenty times the gold! Aha! The tooth fairy owes me big time!" Stingy clasped his hands wistfully. "Prepare to have your accomplishment overshadowed, Ziggy."

Ziggy didn't mind. He was turning his tooth in on time, and it was shiny and new.

 

A shiny new coin waited for him under his pillow the next morning in place of the tooth he had left the previous night. The whole treehouse was awake soon after the discovery.

"Look! Look what the tooth fairy left me!" He waved the money at the other kids. "She came! She's real!"

Stingy threw aside his pillow and gasped.

"Wow- oh- look, everyone! The tooth fairy brought me a fortune in gold!" He scraped together the four or five coins that had replaced his tooth collection. "I'm finally rich!"

"Morning, guys! Did the tooth fairy come?" Sportacus greeted, appearing at the window. They showed him their spoils. "Wow! Now that's some good gifts."

"Where's Trixie?" Stephanie yawned. The other girl wasn't in the treehouse when she woke up.

"She's practicing for the competition. It's in only a few hours." Sportacus glanced at the sky.

"Oh yeah, the archery competition!" Stephanie jumped up and started pulling on her shoes. "Come on everyone, we have to practice our cheer before it starts!"

Sportacus made everyone a big breakfast to give them energy for the event. Trixie was uncharacteristically quiet. He figured it was nerves, and knew better than to say anything.

"Are you nervous, Trixie?" Piped Ziggy as he munched on an apple. Trixie replied with a grumpy look.

"I'm not hungry, Sportacus." She said, refusing the plate of fried eggs he passed her. He looked concerned.

"You'll be hungry later if you don't eat now." 

"Then I'll eat later."

"Just try to eat a little bit now, and then a little more later. Please?" He offered the eggs again.

"Alright, but could everyone just stop talking to me for a second?" She poked at the eggs irritably.

"Let's leave Trixie alone for a while, okay guys? Can we do that?"

The group nodded and zipped their lips. Trixie eventually managed to eat almost all her eggs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much a short filler chapter. I decided to break it off from the bigger stuff that's coming, hope it's not too dry
> 
> When the heck did Sportacus meet the tooth fairy


	6. Chapter 6

The event was held in an empty field outside of town. While grass was dry enough to sit on, most Lazytowners brought picnic blankets with their baskets. Local vendors wrung out their awnings and set up stalls on the field to sell fresh baked goods, sausages, beer and lemonade. Children ran about pestering adults to buy their flower chains. A band of musicians known as the Lazy Players were strumming up lively tunes on the main stage, which was just a wooden platform with a banner strung between the posts. Robbie paced behind the stage. The archery competition was a huge hit already, although the people of the town were always so in need of entertainment that they would probably come together celebrate the literal drop of a hat. The entire population of Lazytown showing up was going to make it difficult to spot his target in the crowd, so the moment he was counting on was the award ceremony when the Blue Bandit inevitably won. Robbie had an actual golden apple as the prize, but also a delicious looking fake apple made from a very specific poison. Elves, he had discovered, were susceptible to excessive doses of certain kinds of sugar, and while the sugar apple wouldn't quite kill him, Sportacus would be dead helpless until given the antidote. It seemed the bandit had something that Robin Hood didn't: a weakness.

He fished a pair of binoculars from inside his bag and surveyed the archery contestants as they milled about, taking practice shots and adjusting their bowstrings. There were less than a dozen, a few older men, a couple of younger women, some serious looking teenagers, and some less-serious teenagers. No muscular blue elves among them as far as Robbie could see. He dropped the binoculars. A scatter of cheers and whistles made him take a second look down the field, apparently someone had shot an arrow straight into a head of lettuce. To Robbie's surprise, the marksman wasn't the Blue Bandit, but a small girl. She slipped back into the crowd, but not before he saw the black mask strapped to her forehead. A-ha.

On a whim, he had brought Stephanie's stolen mask with him on his mission. The spells carved on the inside must have some illusion magic thrown in, but being a master of disguise himself, Robbie could hardly be fooled. He peered through one of the masks eyeholes, spotting the whole group of bandit kids huddled around the girl. Most weren't even wearing their masks and were easy to spot. No doubt Sportacus was nearby under a stronger concealment. Robbie had read that elves, appropriately called the 'hidden folk', could make themselves invisible to human eyes. Fat lot of good it would do him once the contest began. 

The sudden blast of a trumpet by his ear made Robbie jump a foot in the air. Hearing the signal, the crowds began filing into the sidelines to watch the officials (who were Sheriff Lolli and his deputy) set up the targets. Robbie hurried to join them. He was the third official for the competition and disguised thusly. The Sheriff, deputy, and Robbie walked down the line of contestants, checking their equipment for unfair advantages. Sportacus was not among the competitors, although the girl with the black mask and ponytails, who Robbie recognized as the one who left him stuck to the cart a few days back, apparantly was. So the elf was letting his brat win for him. Hopefully she was a good shot.

Trixie almost missed the first trumpet call, only making it to the line when her group shuffled her away from Sportacus. He was incognito today, as they all were for safety's sake, but with a bit extra that made him blend in completely. It was easy to lose sight of him when he didn't actively wish to be seen. He gave Trixie a final pat on the shoulder and two thumbs up before melting into the crowd. She took her place at the end of the line and a quick scan told her she was the youngest- and shortest- contestant by far. She stood as proudly as possible when the officials came to skim her over with an exchange of shrugs. She was in.

At the second fanfare the archers drew their arrows at aimed at any of the three targets down the field. She heard the sheriff yell "Fire!" and watched the other arrows fly before realizing she was meant to release her own. She knew it was off directly as she fired. Her bow fell to her side as she watched the officials run to examine the targets. Several arrows were stuck in the grass, more clung on the edges of the targets, and a few peppered the inner rings around the bullseyes. Trixie's arrow was a hands-breadth to the left of the center, and she advanced to the next round along with less than half the lineup. She smiled when she heard her friends cheering.

"Trixie is the best- hey! Trixie is the best- hey!" They chanted. She conducted the cheer as she drew her second arrow. There were two targets now, and five archers. The trumpets blared. She notched her arrow and squinted down the shaft. 

"Fire!"

The arrow left her hand a little early, nevertheless flying straight and true toward the center of the target. It sank into the black edge of the bullseye. The crowd whooped and applauded.

"You did it, Trixie! Good shot!" She heard Sportacus's voice near her but couldn't see where he was. She didn't reply, instead focused on breathing while the officials returned with their consensus. Only two archers were left: Trixie and Ms. Grouser, the local wildfowl collector. Grouser could shoot down birds mid-flight, and Trixie was nervous as she stepped up beside her to face the single target. Her friends cheers rose up, then were quieted by an invisible Sportacus. The officials moved away from the targets, and one of them climbed onto the stage. He looked familiar, and she distractedly bounced around in her brain trying to place him. The fanfare   
played. 

"Fire!"

"Crap!" Trixie whispered as Grouser's arrow flew. She pulled back her string and aimed as best she could in a single second. Her arrow slipped from her grasp with a satisfying twang, and she lost sight of it as traveled to its mark.

The crowd murmured and leaned in to see who's arrow had hit the target. There appeared to be only one arrow in the very center of the bullseye, and the other was nowhere to be seen. Folks were whispering that they'd seen Grouser's arrow hit the center before Trixie fired, and she wilted a little. Her arrow was probably in the grass somewhere. The officials were staring at the arrow in the target. They turned to each other with shocked faces, then turned to the contestants.

"The kid hit the bullseye." Announced the deputy. The audience was stunned. People began moving toward the target for a closer look, pointing in disbelief. Trixie ran forward and pushed her way through the crowd to see. Her friends were already there, bouncing and shrieking with excitement.

"Look at that!" Cried Pixel, pointing to the bullseye. "You split Grouser's arrow right down the middle!"

And so she had. Something was creeping up inside in her, a tentative prideful feeling. The kids surrounded her with a group hug and for once, she let them. Sportacus was there suddenly, divested of his camouflage. He looked possibly more excited than Ziggy, who was vibrating as he hugged her neck. 

"You were amazing out there!" The bandit said earnestly, touching her shoulder. The look of pride on his face made the backs of her eyes sting. She shrugged to deflect the praise.

"Yeah well, with all the work I've put in guess the bow decided to give me a break. You think I'll get the prize? We both hit the same spot." 

Sportacus gestured to the officials, who were talking with Grouser and nodding. They began heading toward Trixie.

"Did I win?" She blurted when they halted in front of her. 

"Meet us on the stage and you'll find out." Replied Sheriff Lolli with a smile. 

Robbie could see the elf as he and his brats made their way to the stage. He was out in the open. Stupid fool. Now he only had to keep him in his sights while he figured out how to administer the poison. The sugar apple was in his bag along with the golden apple, and the original plan was to give Sportacus both when he won. The little archer girl was certainly a roadblock in that case. It was time for plan two. 

"Take this." He mumbled, shoving the golden apple into the Sheriff's hand. He hopped off the back of the stage, feeling all his joints groan even though the distance was inconsequentially slight. Limping slightly, Robbie made his way through the gathering crowd to stand a little ways behind Sportacus, who stood by the stage watching Grouser and Trixie take their places.

"Thank you to all who participated in this event," Sheriff Lolli announced. "I'm sure you're all eager to discover who won, but first I've been asked to announce something. A-hem, to the owner of the green and yellow vegetable cart: your horse is untethered."

A ripple of heads turned to watch Jives push through the crowd and hurry away to rescue his horse. The Sheriff then continued.

"Now, before we award this golden apple to the winner, Lady Busybody has offered to say a few words."

There was a collection of barely-suppressed groaning. Bessie's speeches were infamously long and tedious. Robbie cringed, furiously thinking of a way to stop the speech. 

"Sorry about this, Bessie." He murmered, twiddling his fingers to conjure a gust of wind. Lady Busybody was about to take the stand when the wind hit her, scattering her hairpins. Her curls sprang free in a wild tangle.

"Oh! My hair!" She shrieked. "I knew the weather wasn't to be trusted, this is terrible..."

As she hurried off the stage, the Sheriff quickly took over once more.

"Well I guess we'll get right into it then." A sigh of relief rose from the crowd. "The winner of the Lazytown Spring Archery Competition is: Trixie!"

In front of him, the other bandits exploded into cheers. Robbie covered his ears. On the stage, Trixie shook Grouser's hand and stepped forward to receive the golden apple, grinning ear to ear. She held the shining object up for the crowd to see. It was a beautiful piece of work, Robbie had to admit, even if he hated apples. 

Apples! Sportacus was almost directly in front of him, his back turned and his backpack slightly open. It was full of apples. Robbie's plan flew together in his head. He drew the sugar apple from his own satchel and rubbed it a with bit of his own glittering magic polish (beeswax, red cherry and a drop of siren spit) until it shone with irresistible glamour. He crept forward and deftly slipped the evil thing with the other apples in Sportacus's backpack. Now all he had to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No time to draw lately but here it is
> 
> The sugar apple plot is my favorite thing if you watch the live shows on youtube its used in literally every one and never gets old 
> 
> Trixie is a BOSS


	7. Chapter 7

Trixie jumped off the stage, golden apple in hand. Her friends surrounded her instantly.

"Congratulations, Trixie! You really earned it." Stephanie commended.

"Can I see the prize? Can I hold it?" Pestered Stingy, fingers migrating toward the golden apple. Trixie held it out of his reach.

"Ooh, I'm gonna have fun making you pull favors to touch this." She cackled. 

"I'll do what I must." Said Stingy with a resolution that was either servile or threatening.

"Should we go eat?" Sportacus suggested. Trixie's stomach growled. "I'll take that as a yes."

There was plenty of food to be bought at the stalls, and the event quickly turned into a mass picnic. The bandits settled down to eat at the edge of the field, under the shade of a tree. Each of the kids had brought their own food, but were sharing what they'd bought between them while recounting their favorite highlights from the competition.

"Did you see Nenni's arrow in the first round? I thought it went backwards!" Laughed Pixel.

"Can you imagine? Everyone behind him scatters as it flies the wrong way, now that would be hilarious." Stingy said with a chuckle. "Would you trade my lemonade for your prize, Trixie?"

"There's not enough lemonade in the world, loser." Trixie retorted around a mouthful of sandwich.

"I can't believe you beat Ms. Grouser! She was like- bam! And yours was just right there with her, it was so awesome!" Ziggy exclaimed with awe. Trixie knew she tended to pick on Ziggy, and it felt odd having him look up to her.

"What did you but with your tooth money?" She asked him.

"Well, I was gonna buy more candy, but I have enough so I decided to save it instead."

"Cool. That's a real smart thing to do." She watched Ziggy's smile grow with the praise.

"Do you want my tooth fairy money in exchange for the golden apple?" Offered Stingy shrewdly.

"Back off, Stingy. This is worth more than you are." Trixie casually tossed the heavy apple in her hands teasingly. 

"How do you know it's real gold?" Asked Pixel, suddenly interested.

"Feel how much it weighs." Trixie passed the apple to Pixel, who nearly dropped it.

"What?! You're letting him hold it but not me?" Stingy was scandalized. Trixie stuck out her tongue at him.

"This is heavy! Stephanie, come hold this- Stephanie?" Pixel looked up at the pink girl, who wasn't eating but instead staring quietly out at the field of picnickers. She turned upon hearing her name.

"What?" She asked, looking dazed.

"Are you okay? You're really quiet."

"I'm- I'm okay. I guess... I kind of thought I'd see uncle Milford here. But even if he was I don't want to run into- you know. He would probably be upset if he saw me anyway."

"Do you miss him?" Pixel scooted closer to her.

"Yeah." Stephanie ripped a handful of grass from the ground and sprinkled it on Pixel's legs. "But don't worry, I'm having plenty of fun anyway." 

"Oh, yeah?" He picked off a blade of grass and flicked it back at her.

"Grass fight!" Trixie dumped two enormous green handfuls onto their heads.

"Trixie!"

 

Sportacus took an apple from his backpack before he wandered away from the group. He had heard Stephanie mention her uncle, and he also wondered why Lord Milford hadn't attended. Milford was the master of ceremonies for all Lazytown celebrations and it was strange that he would leave his duties to the sheriff. He hadn't seen Sir Robert anywhere either, which was a relief. He felt more comfortable removing his mask and using his natural camouflage to avoid attention. At the moment he was off to find Jives to ask him who had organized the competition, and if the rain had ruined his tomato crop. Sportacus finally spotted the old man's green hat among the swarm of heads and called out to him. Jives turned and scanned the crowd, then waved back when he spied his friend. the bandit leaned on a post while Jives approached, tossing his apple from hand to hand. It was a really nice looking apple, he noticed, and suddenly felt parched. Instinctively, he brought the apple to his mouth and took a big bite. Only after he swallowed did he see the flaky pink slime where there should be juicy white flesh. 

Was that... sugar?

Sportacus choked, feeling his skin grow hot. His vision swam and the poison apple dropped from his hand as he swayed and stumbled to the ground. He tried looking up to find Jives but his eyes met a different face.

"Not feeling too well, Sporta-faint?" Robbie Rottenham gloated, nudging the fallen elf with his foot. 

"Sportacus!" Robbie saw Jives running toward him, trying to navigate through the maze of picnics. People's heads were turning with concern for the man on the ground. Robbie ground his teeth together.

"Guess we'd better be moving along then. Come on," Sportacus was unable to resist as Robbie wrapped an arm around his waist and hoisted him into a semi-standing position. "Let's hope you stay in one piece."

Robbie snapped his fingers and they were instantly surrounded by mist. Through half-shut eyes, Sportacus watched his surroundings disappear and heard Jives call out once more. Then his head drooped, and he slipped into the black galaxy of numbness. His crystal was singing.

 

"Really? Ziggy gets to hold it but I still don't." Stingy complained crossly. Ziggy was rolling the golden apple across the grass like a bowling ball. Trixie shrugged.

"Go figure."

"You're toying with me, aren't you?" Stingy narrowed his eyes.

"You bet I am!" Trixie laughed, baptizing him with sprinkling of grass. He folded his hands in a dignified fashion.

"Then I just won't give you the satisfaction of seeing me mad. Hmph." He turned away. "I don't even care if I never see that golden apple again."

"Yes you do, you faker. You're in luck cause I'm bored of teasing you. Here you go." Trixie held out the shiny apple to the boy, who eyed it with suspicion.

"No, you're just going to take it away."

"Stop being a sadsack." She dropped it in his lap.

"Ow! It's heavy, it's... shiny... beautiful..." He breathed, stroking the smooth metal. 

"Keep it."

"What- really?" 

"Yeah, you're the only one who cares about dumb stuff like gold. I don't need a prize to know I'm the best, it's just gonna weigh me down." Trixie laid back in the grass with her arms behind her head. Stingy flopped on his belly, cradling the apple in his hands.

"So, it's mine?" He asked, just to be sure.

"That's what I said." Trixie retorted, craning her neck around to make a face. "Don't make... me..."

Her words faded when she caught sight of an old guy running towards them. She recognized Jives when he came closer.

"Hey, look everyone!" She pointed. "It's Jives!"

"Is he looking for Sportacus?" Ziggy wondered, squinting. "Cause he went off a while ago, do we know where he went?"

"Yo, kids!" Jives panted when he arrived at the tree. He looked uncharacteristically anxious.

"What's up, Jives?" Pixel asked, standing quickly.

"It's Sportacus, man, he passed out somehow. I tried to reach him but-" Jives pointed to Stephanie. "Your royal training master got him first."

"Robbie..." Stephanie gasped. Her hands clenched into fists. Ziggy grabbed Jives's arm.

"I- i- is he, is he okay? What did Robbie do to him?" He stuttered, his round freckled face clenched with worry. Jives opened his hand to reveal a beautiful apple with a single bite taken out of it. The inside was obnoxious shimmery pink slime.

"This is a bad apple, yo. I think whatever's in this knocked Sportacus into la la land. Robbie must have set it up, then he grabbed him like this and- poof!"  
"Poof?"

"They disappeared! I looked around but wherever they are, it's gotta be far away by now." Jives wiped his sweaty brow. 

"We have to get him back! I'll handle Robbie." Trixie said, putting her fists up.

"Will you? He's like ten feet tall and attacked Sportacus two times." Stingy pointed out nervously. Trixie flexed her arm.

"You just saw me split an arrow with another arrow, Stingy. Beating up some skinny dude who's trying to mess with Sportacus? Bring it on!" Trixie noticed Stephanie by her side. "I mean, unless you don't want me to. He's your friend."

"No, I'd kind of like to see this." Stephanie assured her, gesturing to her fists. "I'm pretty sure I know where Robbie is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HeRe We Go...


	8. Chapter 8

The bandit was heavy. Robbie didn't know what he was expecting, knowing just how...voluminous his muscles were, but it was exhausting just to hold him tight enough that the vanishing spell would carry the both of them. The instant they arrived safely in the courtyard, Robbie let the other man fall to the ground.

"You had it coming." He said to the semi-conscious form, thinking of the two times Sportacus had dropped him while in disguise. Two times!

The iron cage was about twenty feet away, and because it was probably heavier than Sporta-brick, Robbie had to drag the elf by the arms to the open door. He shoved Sportacus the final distance inside the cage with his foot. There. It was done. Robbie straightened up, feeling his spine crack excruciatingly. He chained the cage door shut with a comically big padlock, satisfied that the elf couldn't break it even if he had the strength. Right now his prisoner was as helpless as a baby. Unfortunately that meant he wasn't talking anytime soon.

"Lord Milford!" Robbie bellowed, strolling into the castle. "You are not going to believe it! The plan worked! Ha! I mean- of course it worked. Lord Milford?"

He searched the kitchen, the dining room, the throne room, the library, the other dining room, the bathrooms and finally Milford's bedroom but he was nowhere to be found. That was odd. Milford had said that he didn't feel well that morning and couldn't make it to the competition. Maybe he went for a walk in the sunshine or some other such nonsense cure, Robbie reasoned. Oh well, Milford or no Milford, he had a bandit to interrogate.

"Alright, enough lying around for you." Robbie said gruffly, dumping the contents of the mug over Sportacus's head. It wasn't an exact remedy for the poison, but it would still the effects enough for him to talk. Sportacus jolted, blinking at the glittering flower petals that drifted past his face. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see Robbie scrutinizing him through the bars of the cage.

"Can you talk yet?" Robbie demanded. Sportacus tried to reply but it came out as a choked whisper. There was something stuck in his throat, and he began coughing violently. Robbie's hand appeared beside him with a mug full of water, and he suppressed a cough long enough to drink. The lump in his throat dissolved.

"Thank you." He croaked, setting down the mug.

"Shut up." Robbie snapped.

"You just asked me to talk?"

"Quiet! I'll do the talking here!" Robbie paused. "No, wait- you will do the talking here. I have some questions for you and you better answer them straight!"

"I will try." Said Sportacus, sitting up with effort and folding his legs. Robbie narrowed his eyes.

"I have ways of knowing if you lie, elf."

"Oh, is that what I am?" Sportacus tilted his head.

"Is it?"

"Is what?"

"Are. You. An. Elf?" Robbie demanded impatiently through gritted teeth.

"I am." Sportacus admitted. "Is there anything else you want to know? My mustache is real."

"Why in the world would I want to know that?" Robbie was perplexed.

"People ask, sometimes." Sportacus shrugged.

"Whatever. Okay, Sporta-elf, where did you come from?"

"Today? An apple tree."

"No, I mean where were you born?"

"Under an apple tree."

"Alright, if that's how you want to play," Robbie reached through the bars and placed a finger on Sportacus's nose. His blue eyes began to water slightly as the truth spell took effect. "Why did you take Stephanie away?"

"She was unhappy. I offered her a new home and she took it." Sportacus said evenly. Robbie scowled and increased the power of the spell. All the magic he was using recently was draining him, but he had to hold out.

"Did the Purple Knight hire you to steal her?"

Sportacus blinked.

"No."

"Then what- why? What do you do, going about collecting children?"

"I'm a full time homemaker, and a part time bandit. I like to watch out for others."

"You don't seem like the average homemaker." Robbie scoffed.

"I'm slightly above average."

"Do you have any connection at all with the Purple Knight?"

"No." Sportacus stated firmly. Robbie withdrew his hand. He tapped his chin while studying his prisoner. His eyes travelled slowly to the elf's hat. He lunged forward.

"Hey!" Sportacus cried as Robbie snatched his hat and mask off his head. Robbie dangled the mask out of reach triumphantly.

"Thought you could buffer a silly little truth spell with your elf charms? Ha!" He shook a reprimanding finger. "Cheaters never win, my friend. Now, where were we?"

Robbie crouched down and gripped Sportacus by the throat. The elf's eyes began leaking. That was more like it.

"Do you have any connection at all with the Purple Knight?" Robbie repeated slowly. He felt Sportacus swallow under his hand.

"Yes." Came the hoarse whisper, followed by a soft sigh of relief. "But it's not what you think-"

"Who are you?" Robbie demanded, reapplying the pressure.

"I am...a runaway princess, seeking a new life among bandits." Sportacus gasped with a small helpless smile. He watched as Robbie's face morphed into portrait of livid contempt.

"Oh, you're good. You are in for-" Robbie's fingers sank into the bandit's neck, but he knew there was no power in them. His magic was spent. An alternate image came to mind, a bloody one where a sword created a loose tongue. His hand released Sportacus's throat and he drew back.

"Fine. Keep your past to yourself. Your future is in my dubious hands, Sporta-fool. Don't want to be the villain, huh? You'll regret that. I'm your villain now, and I'm going to stomp out every inch of your little 'hero' facade until there's nothing left but the evil spook you are!" Robbie kicked the cage violently, causing pain to shoot up his leg. He hopped back, cursing under his breath.

"Are you okay?" Sportacus asked innocently. Robbie growled and stomped his foot inside the cage, grinding the fallen petals under his heel. The remedy destroyed, Sportacus crumpled limply to the floor of the cage, eyes closed. Robbie sighed and threw the hat and mask back into the cage. He hobbled back inside the castle, rubbing his temples and blinking back tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the man have his secrets
> 
> (but actually no)
> 
> Robbie only learns things the hard way...


	9. Chapter 9

Milford sidled up to Bessie and cleared his throat. She shot him an annoyed glance.

"Excuse me sir, but I have no time for this today." Lady busybody turned to continue her way down the street. Milford jogged after her.

"Wait! Lady Busybody? It's me, it's Milford!" He called out.

"Milford!" What are you doing in town? I didn't see you at the archery competition. Why are you dressed like this?" She gestured to the green jacket and white wig he wore.

"Ah, I thought I would take a page out of Sir Robert's book and go incognito today. I told him I had a headache, then disguised myself and came down here to look for Stephanie." 

"And did you find her?"

"No." Milford hung his head. "I looked all over. I even missed the competition."

"You didn't miss much." Bessie said. "My speech was cut short, so there wasn't much of an award ceremony. Cheer up, dear man, and come to my house. I have some lovely pound cake, a gift from Ms. Zweets. She told me yesterday that the Blue Bandit was going to compete today, but I guess he never showed up. What a shame. It would have been easier than going out looking all over for him, don't you think? Milford?"

"Oh, oh yes, Lady Busybody. Much easier." He tugged on his jacket, lost in thought. Bessie slipped her arm through his. 

"Come on, Milford. I have to tell you what else I heard yesterday."

She pulled him along all the way to her house, an elegant two-story building covered with bright red paint and climbing flowers.

"Excuse the mess, I've been trying to get help with the garden for ages." She apologized. Inside the house was spotlessly tidy, the floral-patterned furniture arranged meticulously in the sunny drawing room. Bessie led her guest straight through the drawing room and out into the kitchen. This space was Milford's favorite, the atmosphere being much more intimate and flavorful. Bessie uncovered the pound cake and drew up two chairs by the window.

"Now, you know that I can be a bit of a gossip at times," she began when they were seated. "But really everyone in this town is, especially when the rainy weather causes such boredom. I've been prying around town for the past few days for any story related to the Blue Bandit, and the trail I've picked up is most interesting. It seems that when Stephanie was in town five days ago, she told a group of teenagers that she was no longer a princess. Another source said she'd run away. Milford," Bessie said seriously. "There are no other bandits. Just the one man and a group of children. Isn't that strange? It couldn't have been them who robbed the Knight's servant weeks ago."

"Unless he was lying to save face." Milford suggested. "Just a man and a few children you say? Very odd. Has the Blue Bandit been seen around town lately?"

"Oh, very often. Here, I created a map of all the things I've heard in the last week." Bessie opened a drawer and unrolled a large sheet of paper. It was a map of Lazytown, with colorful dots marking various buildings. She tapped one of the dots. "Ms. Zweets says he fixed her roof the other night, and here he helped drain Jives's vegetable garden, and bailed out Salty's flooded shed, found Debbie's missing sheep, pulled Needy's cart out of the mud, brought soup to the Sheriff's kids when they had the sniffles- this mystery man is not just an upstanding citizen, he's a local hero."

"If he's done nothing wrong, why does he wear a mask and act so mysterious?"

"Nobody knows. Some people think he's a fugitive from a far off land, some think he's just shy. Currently we know that he's trying to avoid Sir Robert, for obvious reasons." She coughed implicatively. "The only person he seems to talk to is Jives, the gardener. Jives wouldn't tell me anything though, so good luck getting any information there."

"Do you think he'd really sell out to Jean? I mean, it hardly seems in line with his character." Milford tried a bite of his pound cake. It was delicious, but he was too distracted to enjoy it fully.

"I don't know. I wouldn't call myself the best judge of character. Made my mistakes, you know." Bessie picked at her cake.

"Lady Busybody, you know that doesn't matter. You're the person I'd trust most to know a rat when they see one, well, because you've learned what a rat looks like I suppose." Milford said earnestly, hoping that he made some kind of sense. Bessie gave him a half smile.

"If you're talking about Richard, then yes, I'm familiar with rats. Everyone meets wicked people, Milford, but not everyone marries them." Her gaze drifted to the windowsill. Delicate white flowers swayed in the planter box. "He would have hated these. That's why I planted them."

"Good." Milford said. 

 

It was hours later that Milford left Lady Busybody's house. The evening sun stretched his shadow down the street as he walked leisurely back to the castle. He was appreciating a lovely front garden when he realized who it belonged to. It was Jives's house, and Milford was compelled to venture up the narrow front walk and knock on the green door. He waited for a moment, then the door opened just slightly, a sliver of face visible through the crack.

"Mr. Jives?" Lord Milford greeted. The door opened all the way.

"Lord Milford." Jives bowed his head respectfully. "Yo, what's up?"

Milford noticed that the gardener looked tired and a bit disheveled, his eyes darting nervously up and down the street.

"I must speak with you. May I come in?"

"Yeah, totally. Listen, I have to tell you something too. It's about your niece." Jives ushered Milford inside and quickly closed the door. "Something happened today, and I gotta come clean with you because, man, you seem like a good guy."

"What happened?" Milford asked, alarmed. "Is Stephanie alright?"

"Yeah, well no. It's complicated." Jives grimaced. "Let me tell you the story..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name that shitty ex husband
> 
> Some quality Bessie and Milford before we get into the hard stuff.


	10. Chapter 10

The bandit children and Jives crouched in the brush. It was mid-afternoon, and they were hidden at the edge of the woods, twenty feet from the castle wall. 

"It's no use. I can't see through the gate from here." Pixel lowered the spyglass. Sportacus had left his backpack at their picnic site before he disappeared, and they raided it for equipment. 

"Maybe we could send in Skychaser?" Stephanie suggested.

"Skychaser? what's good's a bluebird gonna do? They don't have arms, Stephanie." Trixie scoffed. 

"I meant we could use him to send Sportacus a message." Stephanie clarified, raising her eyebrows at Trixie.

"Okay, here's the message: Dear Sportacus, how are you? We are having a great time rescuing you, wish you were here." Stingy mimed writing loopily through the air. "P.s: where do we find your bird in the first place?"

"If you guys have a better idea, why not just say so." Stephanie rolled her eyes at the mockery.

"Yo, get it together. We don't have time for fights now." Jives cut in. "Pixel, what you got so far?"

"It looks like the only way in for us is through the gate. Sportacus could climb the wall, so if he's in good shape getting out won't be a problem." Pixel didn't want to think about Sportacus not being in good shape, but science involved considering all the variables.

"How do we get through the gate?" Ziggy asked him.

"That's a good question, Ziggy. That's what we should focus on." Pixel nodded affirmingly to Ziggy.

"The gate is usually locked with a padlock, but there's a broken link in the chain. It's easy to open if you know what to look for." Stephanie offered. 

"I keep forgetting you lived there." Pixel said. "Okay, should we just go right in then?"

"Don't forget to do your reconnaissance first." Jives reminded him.

"What's pecan essence?" Ziggy asked, confused.

"Essence of pecans. Rrrrreconnaissance is spy work." Stingy corrected. "Work for a master spy such as myself. Pixel, the spyglass."

"Are you sure about this?" Pixel asked warily as he handed over the spyglass. Stingy put his nose in the air.

"Watch," he began while stepping out of the bushes. "And learn."

The group watched Stingy creep across the distance between the trees and castle. He flattened himself against the wall and scooted along until he reached the gate, checking suspiciously in every direction. Raising the spyglass to his eye, Stingy poked his head around the gateway and peered into the courtyard. The rest of the group saw him jump with excitement and he hurried much less sneakily back to the bushes. 

"Sportacus is there!" He squeaked. "He's in the courtyard, in a big metal cage. He's asleep."

"Asleep? That's not good. It's probably the effects of whatever was in that poison apple." Pixel warned.

"You mean the poison?"

"Yes, Stingy. The poison. There's gotta be an antidote we can give him."

Jives reached into Sportacus's backpack and fished out an apple.

"The cure for a bad apple is a good apple." He said, passing the fruit to Pixel.

"Thanks Jives, but we need a real cure. This can't be enough." Pixel frowned doubtfully.

"Yo, trust me on this one. The active ingredient in that poison is sugar. Knocks him right out, I've seen it happen before. This apple will make him good as new." Jives insisted.

"Sportacus can't have sugar? Not even candy?" Ziggy gasped, horrified.

"Especially not candy. Too much sugar will put him in a total meltdown. It's just how he's made." Jives shrugged.

"Then all we have to do is get this apple to Sportacus." Pixel stood up. "Let's go already!"

The five young children and one old man ran semi-stealthily towards the castle.

Sportacus lay motionless on the ground. He could feel his crystal thrumming next to his skin, warning him that something was wrong. It had been a long time since he'd last had a sugar meltdown, and since he'd learned to be careful eating human food. The sun felt uncomfortably hot on his face but his limbs were too heavy to shield himself against it. His exposed ears would surely burn, he thought regretfully. If Sir Robert didn't come back and murder him. For some reason, he didn't think that would happen. When Robbie lashed out, he held back in a way Sportacus couldn't explain. His rage held no cruelty. But he was desperate, and desperation the bandit knew. 

Something landed by his head with a thump and bounced forward to meet his face. The sharp scent of apple filled his senses and his eyes fluttered open. There was indeed an apple. Where had it come from? It didn't matter, he supposed. He just had to eat it in good faith.

With painstaking effort, Sportacus lifted his arm just enough to guide the fruit to his mouth. The first bite flooded his body with cool relief. By the time he'd swallowed the juices he could feel power returning to his limbs. He sat up, stretching his arms exuberantly. His hat and mask were lying next to him, and he quickly pulled them on his head. 

"What is this?" Barked Robbie's voice. Sportacus startled guiltily, hiding the apple behind his back as his villain stormed across the courtyard. "What are you doing up and about?"

"I'm not." Sportacus replied defensively. Robbie looked him over.

"What's behind your back?" 

"You ask a lot of questions. It's very confusing." Sportacus said while scooting out of Robbie's reach. Robbie circled the cage to no avail.

"Show me what you have, Sporta-clown. Don't make me come in there- I know that iron makes you weak. This is a fight you won't win!" Robbie managed to grab the neck of the bandits vest and tug him close. Defeated, Sportacus surrendered the once-bitten apple.

"A-ha! Found the antidote then. Where did you get this?"

"Again with the questions? I don't know." Sportacus sighed.

"Right. 'You don't know'." Robbie snorted. "You want me to believe that an apple just fell from the sky?"

Like clockwork, an apple sailed through the air and collided with Robbie's head. He slumped against the cage, stupefied.

"Oops. I hit him too hard." Stephanie covered her mouth with her hands, mortified.

"No, you just didn't hit him hard enough. Watch." Trixie took another apple from the backpack and loaded it into her slingshot. She popped up over the crates they were hiding behind and fired the second apple at Sir Robert. It hit him in the face with a horrible smacking noise.

"Trixie!" Stephanie shrieked.

"Is- is he dead?" Ziggy whispered.

"Pfft. No way. I'm gonna go save Sportacus now, if you two are done crying over Sir Rottenhead's poor little noggin." Trixie hopped over the crate and ran toward the cage.

"Trixie! You gave me the apple?" Sportacus said brightly as the girl stepped over Robbie's dazed body. 

"Naw, Stephanie chucked that one. She sucks with a slingshot but I gotta admit, she has a hell of a throwing arm." Trixie fumbled with the padlock. "Can't you break this?"

Sportacus shook his head.

"It's made of iron, which... i-is a very strong metal, is all. Robbie has the key." He pointed. Trixie felt around Robbie's belt, then his pockets and beyond.

"Nope." She concluded, quickly replacing his smelly shoes. "The key's not on him."

"Then where is it?" Asked Stephanie, as she and Ziggy joined them.

"Why don't we ask." Trixie crawled toward Robbie's head and began slapping his face. "Hey, wake up! Where's the key the cage?"

"Brat." Robbie mumbled in response. He fell unconscious.

"Oh no!" Ziggy cried. "Now he is dead!"

"Why do you want him dead so badly, Ziggy?" 

"I don't!" Ziggy assured her defensively. 

"I'm just teasing you." Trixie tapped Robbie's forehead. He did not respond.

"You should go and find that key." Sportacus urged. Stephanie nodded. 

"Hey, boys! And Jives," she called to the gate. "Come here!"

Stingy, Pixel, and Jives emerged from the gate and joined the group by the cage.

"Hey, Sportacus! Lookin' good, man!" Jives greeted.

"Good to see you, Jives." Sportacus waved from behind the bars. Stephanie was organizing the search party.

"Alright, we're going to split up and search the castle. Ziggy, you check the dining room. Pixel, the kitchen. Trixie, I trust you to search Robbie's room. Stingy, the armory, and I'll take the library. Jives-"

"I'll stay here and take care of Robbie." Jives finished for her. She nodded.

"Let's go!" She turned to leave but Trixie caught her arm.

"Wait, hold on a minute there girl. We don't know where any of these rooms are. If we split up we'll just get lost."

Stephanie blinked.

"I'm so stupid!" She smacked herself in the forehead. Trixie chuckled and patted her on the back.

"There there. Why don't we all search the rooms together? That way we'll cover them faster." She suggested. 

"You're right. Come on, we don't have any time to lose!" Stephanie beckoned the other kids to follow her as she ran to the nearest door out of the courtyard. 

"You heard her, slowpokes!" Trixie called over her shoulder as she followed close behind.

Jives and Sportacus watched the kids until they were out of sight. Jives crouched next to Sportacus, gripping the bars.

"This is made of iron, isn't it?" He rattled the cage. "Some pretty good craftsmanship, nice stuff."

"Thanks for coming after me, Jives. It looks like I'll always be in your favor." 

"Don't even sweat it, man. That's what friends are for." Jives jerked his thumb to the unconscious figure on the ground. "What should I do with him?"

"Can you move him some place safe?"

"Please. I can lift a hundred pound bag of topsoil I can drag his skinny ass." 

Sportacus shook his head. 

"Watch it. Robbie picked me up, and that's hard to do." He flexed his bicep demonstratively. Jives chuckled while he hooked his arms under Robbie's and dragged him backwards towards the crates. 

"Yo, it's like picking a coffin for a giraffe. He's so tall!" Jives called while he hauled the sleeping man inside one of the larger boxes. "Kind of your type though, huh?"

"Dont even- what? I didn't hear you." Sportacus shrugged.

"Sure you didn't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you missed it, Stefan Karl's situation has gotten worse and they're asking for more donations
> 
> https://www.gofundme.com/2tm9tqk
> 
> My prayers and best wishes are with him and his family ❤︎ 
> 
> now go watch some Robbie Rotten videos yall


	11. Chapter 11

"Found it! Ah! It's mine!" Stingy darted forward and snatched the key off the side table. They had found it in the library, next to a plate that had recently held cake. 

"Let's go save Sportacus!"

The others followed as he dashed out of the room, cackling triumphantly. Trixie paused in the doorway, noticing that Stephanie wasn't behind her. She turned around.

"Pinkie, you coming..." Stephanie was standing stock still, staring into the orange fur of the armchair. She looked like she hadn't heard her. "Pinkie?"

"Trixie?" She finally spoke. "Will you do something stupid with me?"

Trixie was surprised to hear that, but never unprepared.

"Hell yeah."

 

The door to her mother's room was locked, of course. Robbie and Milford had hidden the key years ago, agreeing that it for the best. But neither of them knew about the spare. The queen had left it in Stephanie's jewelry box long ago, and though she knew what door it opened, she had never dared use it until now. 

"What's in there?" Trixie whispered. The mood was eerie as they stood in front of the door in the dark hallway. There was something engraved on the stained wood. It looked like a tree.

"It's mama's room." Stephanie said softly. She opened the jewelry box they had retrieved and stuck her fingers behind the red lining, pulling out a silver key. Trixie took the jewelry box and looked nervously down the hall as Stephanie unlocked the door. She paused, her hand pressed to the unlocked door. Then she pushed.

"Augh!" Trixie jumped as the rusty hinges screamed open. "Ever heard of an oil can? Geez, oh wow."

The interior was dark. Stephanie and Trixie stumbled across the room to pull aside the heavy curtains. Shafts of sunlight filtered through, illuminating clouds of dust. The girls coughed.

"So, what are you looking for in here?" Trixie asked. She sneezed and rubbed her nose. 

"I don't know. Something. Anything." Stephanie began rummaging through the nearest chest of drawers. There was a large wardrobe, a sea chest, several bookshelves and drawers surrounding the four-poster bed. Trixie cracked open the chest and was met with a puff of dust. She waved it away and withdrew a brass telescope.

"Whoah! This is sweet! You want this?"

Stephanie shook her head. Trixie put it back carefully and began sorting through the rest. There were maps and sealed envelopes, but no more shiny telescopes. Trixie shut the lid, disappointed. They continued to search quickly, opening the wardrobe and checking the bookshelves.

"Wait!" Stephanie turned suddenly from the drawer she was working on. She dived to the floor and crawled under the bed skirt. Trixie watched with horror.

"Seriously? There's gotta be, like, a million rats under there!"

"A-ha!" Came Stephanie's muffled voice. She pushed a wooden box out onto the floor before surfacing. "Guess I am just like my mom. We know the good hiding spots."

"What's in there?" Trixie leaned over her shoulder while she tossed the box into the bed and lifted the latches. 

"Secrets." Under the lid lay a single book. The faded cover was bound in stripes of pink cloth, and many odd pieces of paper and such were tucked between the pages. It was tied shut with a purple ribbon. Stephanie's hand lingered on the neat bow.

"Hey," Trixie tapped Stephanie's arm. "We should probably go. I mean, as much as I'd love to hang out in your dead mom's room-"

"She's not dead," Stephanie looked up from the book quizzically. Trixie put up her hands.

"Sorry, I just assumed because of the creepy locked room with the curtains..." She fumbled. "Not that- I don't mean sorry that she's not dead-"

"It's okay. I mean, it's not like I know that she's alive." Stephanie picked up the book and hugged it to her chest. "I think I have what I came for."

 

Sportacus did a somersault right out of the cage as soon as the door was unlocked. 

"Ha ha! Free!" He shouted, springing into a split jump.

"And no worse for wear." Jives commented, tossing the bandit his backpack. 

"Sportacus!" Ziggy rushed forward and wrapped himself around Sportacus's leg. There were tears in the corners of his scrunched up eyes "Aw, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Sportacus slung the backpack over his shoulder and bent down to pick Ziggy up in a hug. 

"Me too, Ziggy. We should get out of here! Where are the girls?" He spun in a circle, counting heads. Pixel and Stingy shrugged at each other.

"They were right behind us, or I thought they were..." Pixel trailed off. He ran a hand through his hair, perplexed. 

"Should we go look for them?" Stingy started toward the doorway when Sportacus stopped him.

"Look, here they come." 

Stephanie and Trixie emerged from the castle, running when they saw Sportacus standing with the group.

"You're out, nice!" Trixie high-fived him. Stephanie gave him a smile, which he noticed was slightly strained. Her hand held the strap of her shoulder bag in a white knuckled grip.

"Let's go home!" He suggested, shifting Ziggy onto his back. 

Robbie pushed the lid of the crate off and floundered into an upright position. He saw the cage was empty, its door hanging open. A sound caught his attention and his head snapped toward the gate. It creaked shut behind the escaping bandits.

"No!" Robbie scrambled out of the crate in vain pursuit. He reached the gate in time to watch them disappear into the forest. 

"Gaahhh!" He roared in frustration, throwing up his hands. He took a step backwards when his foot slipped on something and sent him to the ground. Whirling around angrily, he spotted the offending object. A short length of purple ribbon. Robbie plucked it off the ground, stretching the ribbon out to examine it. The color was stirring a memory in his head. Purple. His purple. 

"Wait..." Robbie stopped breathing, leaping to his feet and sprinting into the castle. Inside, he was paralyzed as a puppet, his strings being dragged along by nauseating dread as he frantically raced against the truth. As fast as he reached the door, it was impossible to outrun reality. Martha's room was open.

Robbie sank to the old carpet, surveying the chaos. It was the empty room that hadn't existed in his mind, ransacked by the queen's enemies. He twisted the ribbon in his hands. Clearly the bandit had got what he wanted. The cunning elf had probably played into his hands. Teased and acted cute, simpering in the cage, the sun shining on his golden curls, using up all Robbie's magic. How easily had he been fooled? Shame was surfacing in his chest, and Robbie rose to his feet with grim resolution. It was time to end this dance once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enter the Dead Mom Room of secrets
> 
> I wrote that Robbie stopped breathing and never said he started again so I may have accidentally killed him


	12. Chapter 12

Lord Milford returned to the castle after sunset and was surprised to find the gate unlocked. Sir Robert must have forgotten. Oh well, happened to the best of them. Milford was concerned for his friend, who lived off little sleep or nutrition, or human company. Prior to Stephanie's disappearance, he'd almost never left the castle. Milford hardly stayed at home. Grief was a garment that looked different on everyone, he mused. Like trousers, but trousers of sadness.

"Sir Robert?" He called, trudging tiredly down the hallway. Sir Robert wasn't asleep in the library like he'd expected, and he wasn't in the bathtub either. Milford finally found a neatly folded note in the dining room table. It lay next to a crumpled purple ribbon. 

"Lord Milford." Read the outside of the note in Robbie's spidery scrawl. Milford hesitated to open it, remembering that he had difficulty deciphering Sir Robert's penmanship. In this case, to his relief, the author had restrained himself. 

_By the time you read this, I will be off doing what I̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ is necessary. If̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶ If all goes well, I will return with the princess safe and sound. In the meantime, r̶u̶n̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶e̶ lock the gates and stay on guard. We are also out of milk.  
-Sir Robert Rottenham. _

"Oh. Oh my." Milford murmured. This did not bode well. Where had Sir Robert gone off to? He slumped into the nearest chair, rereading the note but gaining nothing. He pictured Sir Robert stalking off into the forest to confront the Blue Bandit directly. To confront Sportacus, as was his name according to Jives. Jives had explained to Milford that Sportacus meant no harm, but Sir Robert was still in the dark. This could be a grave misunderstanding. Milford could think of only one way to prevent it, but first he needed some rest. Just a few minutes, he assured himself as his eyes drooped shut. He snored against the tabletop, the note still in hand.

Just after dawn, Milford was hurrying to leave. He packed a bag full of all the gear he'd assumed as appropriate for a forest expedition, including his butterfly net. It probably wasn't necessary, but he missed his old hobby and couldn't help thinking of all the beautiful specimens fluttering around in the woods. He was carefully locking the gate behind him he a voice from behind gave him a startle. 

"Milford? What on earth are you doing?" Came the sharp, sophisticated voice of Bessie Busybody. Milford turned around guiltily. "Why are you dressed like that at this hour?"

"Ah well, you see," Milford adjusted his bycocket cap nervously. "I was going out for some... butterfly catching."

"Butterfly catching?" Bessie eyed the butterfly net shrewdly. "I see. Well, let's be off then."

"What, both of us? Lady Busybody, I don't think you're going enjoy this trip." Milford said anxiously.

"Nonsense. It's a lovely day for a walk. See, I've even got my hiking boots on." Bessie strolled determinedly toward the trees. Milford followed helplessly.

"Oh, Lady Busybody! Wait for me!" Milford cried as he struggled to catch up. He was on edge as they entered the forest.

"Milford, is Sir Robert back at the castle? I was speaking to Sheriff Lolli this morning and he said that Sir Robert had visited him yesterday evening to borrow his horse. Now why do you think he would he do that?"

"Oh. Well to tell you the truth, Sir Robert disappeared last night. He left me a disturbing note, and now I'm out here looking for him." Milford admitted. Bessie nodded knowingly. "You said he borrowed the Sheriff's horse?"

"No, Sir Robert borrowed his own horse back from the Sheriff. Supposedly he lent him the horse a few years back..."

"Ah, yes. I remember that. Sir Robert did love that horse, but he had no use for it. Oh dear, if he's riding through the woods we may be too late!" 

"You mustn't worry, Milford! You must focus." Bessie pushed a branch out of her way. It snapped back into Milford's face.

"Oof! Worry helps me focus."

"Oh."

"We must find Sportacus as quickly as possible, before Sir Robert makes a terrible mistake."

"Who is Sportacus?" Bessie inquired, confused.

"The Blue Bandit. His name is Sportacus and you were right about him all along, he really is a good man." 

"I'm glad to hear it. Well, don't dawdle! Let's go find Sportacus!" Bessie grabbed Milford's hand. He blushed as they walked quickly through the woods, side by side.

 

Sportacus had woken up with Ziggy snuggled into his side. He lay still for a few minutes, fondly recalling when the boy had refused to sleep alone. Was he three, four at the time? It pained the bandit somewhat that he didn't know Ziggy's actual age, having found him by chance, a lost toddler in the woods with dirty hair and a pocketful of candy. And a fear of the dark, though Sportacus could hardly blame him. Ziggy was the closest he'd come to a child of his own. They could be mistaken for family, he mused. Same blond hair, freckles, and blue eyes. Not much else, though. And there was the matter of Ziggy being human and Sportacus being... not. He sat up carefully, adjusting the boys blanket before climbing down from the hammock.

It was later than he normally woke, Sportacus could tell from how high the sun was beyond the trees. He didn't mourn the lost time, and instead began stretching for his morning exercises. He was almost to a hundred push-ups when his crystal went off.

"Someone's in trouble," he whispered to himself, standing abruptly and fumbling for the amulet. Yesterday the bandits had set traps around the campsite to keep Robbie away, but it looked like some travelers had set one of them off by accident. Sportacus swished his arms and bounded away to free them.

 

"Oh Milford, move your arm! " Bessie squirmed uncomfortably in the net. She rested on top of poor Milford's backpack, pressing his belly into the ropes.

"I'm sorry, Lady Busybody! Oh dear, how are we going to get out?" He gasped.

"Did you happen to bring anything to cut with?"

"Yes, I brought a pair of clipping shears. I thought it would help if I encountered any...branches. In the woods."

"Milford you genius man." Lady Busybody twisted around to open the backpack and rummaged for the shears. She withdrew them with a flourish and began sawing at the net.

"Oh, do be careful! We don't want to fall-" Milford warned in vain. The ropes snapped, and they tumbled free of the net- only to fall into the concealed pit below.

"Well, I do believe someone has done this deliberately." Bessie remarked. Beneath her, Milford made no response. "Are you alright, Milford?"

"Yes of course Lady Busybody." Came the muffled response. Bessie shifted off of the man and they struggled to stand in the cramped space. It was a dirt hole about six feet deep, and since neither of them were nearly that tall (even with Bessie's hair) it was impossible to reach the top.

"Lift me up," Bessie braced herself against Milford. "I'll climb out, and then I'll pull you out in a jiffy."

"Right." Milford said. He wiggled down to cup her feet in his hands. "Count of three, ready? One, two..."

Before he could begin to hoist, she shot upwards out of the pit. He straightened up, surprised. A hand reached down to him, and it wasn't Lady Busybody's.

"Grab my hand!" Called the Blue Bandit. Milford did so, and was hauled up easily. 

"Look who it is, Milford!" Said Bessie excitedly when they were reunited on the forest floor. "I believe we've found Sportacus!"

"More like he found us." Milford rubbed his aching neck and extended a hand toward their rescuer. "Thank you, sir, uh, Sportacus, that is."

"Glad to help." Sportacus shook vigorously shook his hand with a smile. He quirked an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

"Your friend Jives, the gardener, had a conversation with me. Sportacus, where is my niece?" Milford asked earnestly. 

"Right this way." Sportacus beckoned them to follow as he walked away into the trees, restraining himself to a more considerate pace than normal. Bessie pulled Milford back for a moment.

"He's shorter than I expected, but he seems lovely. You're quite sure about trusting him?" She whispered. Milford watched Sportacus turn and wait for them to catch up. He gave them a goofy wave.

"I have a good feeling." Milford replied. They hurried after the bandit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of now I've written over 60,000 words on this story and I'm not even done with this part yet
> 
> So a big thanks to everyone who reads this, I didnt expect such a positive response and it's helped me get this far :D
> 
> the next chapter's gonna be... something...


	13. Chapter 13

Sir Robert had been riding all night, a long harsh journey for man or beast. But Robbie was no ordinary man, and Skutla was no ordinary horse. He had been relieved to find that the dapple gray stallion still recognized him after years of separation. Skutla hadn't faded or slowed through the whole long night, and they were through the Lazy Woods and nearly to Rottington by daybreak. The last obstacle between him and the Purple Knight was the barren rocky mountains that separated the two lands. Robbie had prepared for the situation, eager to avoid the uphill toil and possibility of hungry mountain trolls. When they finally stopped at the foot of the mountain, he pulled a tall glass bottle from the saddlebag and uncorked it with a loud pop.

"This is the last of it, Skutla. Enough for here and back if we're lucky." He squinted into the neck. A shortcut in a bottle. Magic was, after all, just elaborate shortcuts. Often the price of magic was the inconvenience outweighing the benefits, but if you played your cards right, you could move mountains without any effort. Robbie tipped the bottle slowly and shook a cloud of glitter over Skutla's head. The horse tossed his mane, batting his eyes at the sparkling swirl. 

"Off we go." Robbie urged Skutla into a gallop. As the craggy mountain rushed closer, a purple glow began to pulse in the path before them. The glow brightened into a swirling vortex which swallowed horse and rider when they entered at full speed. The vortex closed behind them instantly, and a few strides later, Robbie and Skutla exited on the other side of the mountain. The glow faded, leaving them surrounded by nothing but the dull plains of Rottington. Robbie gazed out across the dirt as they galloped on. The land of Rottington wasn't far from Lazytown geographically, but in comparison the two were worlds apart. Where Lazytown had green grass and clear brooks lazing about the fruit trees, Rottington had dirt. And coal mines. Clouds of acrid black smoke drifted over Robbie's head, stinging his eyes and throat. Skutla snorted. A mining town sprawled ahead in his view, and Robbie guided his horse to detour around it. He would rather avoid the misery of the Purple Knight's subjects and focus on the task at hand. The Knight's fortress was within sight in minutes. 

They pulled to a halt at the outer wall. Robbie squinted up at the collection of crooked towers and winding stone staircases that made up the lopsided excuse for a castle. The dull coal-covered brick baked joylessly in the bleak sun. No wonder the Knight was so eager to take over Lazytown, Robbie thought distastefully. Certainly he had no right to criticize the condition of Lord Milford's castle. A empty moat lay around the wall, and Robbie stared curiously at the useless drawbridge. He wasn't quite sure how to get inside. A dull glint above the parapet caught his eye, and he saw that there was a sparsely armored guard asleep on the wall.

"Hey you!" Robbie shouted. Skutla whinnied, and the guard raised his head, catching sight of Robbie's waving arms. He shook a spear at the trespasser.

"Who goes there?" The guard called angrily. 

"Sir Robert Rottenham, of Lazytown!" Robbie shouted back. "Let me in, your master has business with me!"

The guard disappeared for a long time. Skutla scraped the dirt with his hoof and Robbie began to think of alternate ways to break into the castle. Clearly he wasn't welcome. But then, to his surprise, the drawbridge began to lower with a heavy groan. As it hit the ground before him, Robbie hesitated, unable to see much in the shade beyond the threshold. He urged Skutla across the bridge, determined to fulfill the purpose of his journey. 

The Purple Knight was descending the stairs to meet him as Robbie entered the tiny courtyard.

"What brings you all the way to my humble kingdom, good Sir Robert?" Milford's brother-in-law inquired with a gracious smile. He stayed a few steps up as Robbie approached, making him eye level with his mounted guest.

"Are you going to make me explain to you what you already know, Sir Jean?" Robbie growled. He reigned in Skutla as close to the Knight as possible, blocking the stairs. "I've come about the princess, though no doubt you guessed."

"Ah yes, Princess Stephanie. Has Milford decided to give me an audience with her, then?"

"Far from it! I think you've had audience enough since you orchestrated her disappearance!" Robbie snapped accusingly. Jean raised his eyebrows, but betrayed nothing.

"Pardon?"

"I would never have thought that you would stoop to exploiting the bandits of Lazy Woods for your purposes but here we are. You thought that with Stephanie out of the way, Lazytown would fall right into your hands, right?"

"A sound theory." Jean nodded. "Go on."

"I've had my suspicions for a while, but the Blue Bandit all but confirmed it yesterday. He enchanted the princess and stole the queen's secrets, and it was all for you!" Robbie pointed angrily. The Purple Knight looked pensive.

"So what are you saying? The princess is missing?" He asked calmly. Robbie shook his pointing finger.

"You know very well she is! She's been missing for nearly two weeks, since you had your elf kidnap her!"

Jean finally looked genuinely surprised.

"What elf?"

"The Blue Bandit of course! He's an elf from god knows where and to your credit, he's good at what he does. The clever thing convinced Stephanie to run away and live with him and his little brats in the woods so you could swoop in and take over the kingdom in her absence!" Robbie panted. "But no beautiful elf is going to fool me. I know of your plan and so does Lord Milford. So call off the bandit, the game is up!"

The Purple Knight blinked. An ominous grin of realization spread across his mustached face.

"The Princess is real. I have a niece." He said softly. "My niece has been kidnapped by a bandit. An elf you say? My my my..."

Robbie shifted on top of the horse. Something was not right. The Knight began to chuckle.

"This is... wonderful news! Oh, this makes taking the castle so much easier!" He laughed. Robbie froze. "I had nothing to do with this, really. I wish I had! All I have to do is find where the bandit is keeping the princess. In the woods, right? Excellent! I'll catch them both, wring a confession out of him, and thus convince my niece to put her kingdom into my more capable hands."

"Wait, so..." Robbie began slowly. "You didn't know about the elf."

"Well I do now, thanks to you. I haven't seen an elf in these parts for a long time. He could be quite useful, come to think of it. Perhaps instead of executing him right away-"

"You didn't know about the elf." Repeated Robbie woodenly. "And you didn't hire him to take the princess."

It didn't add up. How could Sportacus be innocent? What about Martha's room? What about the spells in Stephanie's mask? What about his admitted connection to the Purple Knight? What about his kindness and his smile. How he treated children and the earnest blue of his eyes. What about...

"Forget it." Robbie picked up Skutla's reigns. "I'm off to speak to the bandit myself. You have no reason for coming to Lazytown any time soon, because I'll warn him against you."

"No, you won't." Said Jean smugly.

"Why not?" Robbie's held the reigns tensely.

"Because you can't warn anyone while you're imprisoned in a tower." 

The Knight reached for Skutla's bridle, but Robbie was faster. He wrenched the horse's head out of reach and nudged him backwards. A hand grabbed his boot, and Robbie quickly realized he was surrounded. Kit the servant was there, as well half a dozen equally unsavory looking characters. Skutla reared, driving them back. Robbie snapped his fingers, hoping that his magic was flexible enough to transport an entire horse. 

No mist appeared.

He snapped again. Nothing.

"Is there some catchy tune I can't hear or are you trying to use magic?" The knight smirked. "Give it up, tricks of that sort won't work within these walls."

So the empty moat wasn't useless after all. Robbie bet that it was a perfect circle, a specific circle. There was only one chance. He saw that the drawbridge was still lowered. Unfortunately, the Purple Knight followed his gaze.

"Raise the drawbridge!" He roared as Robbie plunged his hand into the saddlebag and uncorked the bottle within. Swiveling Skutla toward the drawbridge, which was beginning to lift off the ground, he leaned forward and-

"Gah!" He cried as a rope caught his neck. He dropped the reigns, his hand flying to his throat. Kit released the rope to grab the bridle, and the other men seized the opportunity to move in. Robbie's other hand still held the open bottle within the saddlebag, and he lunged forward, shaking the last of the contents onto Skutla's head before he was pulled back.

"Go, Skutla!" He gasped as they dragged him off the horse. He struggled and kicked, breaking the servant's grip on the bridle. Skutla shot forward onto the drawbridge, which was raised nearly ten feet in the air. The horse galloped the length of the bridge and leaped. Robbie saw the glow pulse beyond the moat. He ceased struggling, losing sight of Skutla as he was pinned to the ground. His horse was far away, and hopefully his friends would take the hint. They had time. 

A heavy boot landed on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to beautiful Rottington we have negative tourist attractions, terrible wealth distribution, and an elf population of zero
> 
> and if you look to your right you'll see Robbie having his regrets
> 
> ...just enjoy the scenery?


	14. Chapter 14

The sky was spinning. Stephanie lay on her back, dazed but determined. She hopped to her feet and straightened, extending one leg forward and raising her arms by her ears. Her hands and feet changed places, and she turned a nearly perfect cartwheel.

"I did it!" She breathed, arms still towards the sky.

"Bravo, Stephanie!" An unexpected voice rang out across the campsite. 

"Uncle Milford?" She whirled around. Milford emerged sheepishly from behind a tree. 

"Surprise!" He squeaked. He looked like he was about to cry. Stephanie was paralyzed.

"Oh, Stephanie! Look at you!" Came another familiar voice, and Bessie shot past him to envelop Stephanie in a half hug. "Your hair! Your clothes- your arms! Milford, come feel how strong your niece is."

"I- I can climb a rope now." Stephanie stammered. Sportacus had appeared next to her uncle and she looked between them in bewilderment.

"Uh, can you give us a moment, Lady Busybody?" Milford whispered. Bessie gave Stephanie's hand a squeeze and shuffled away. She took Sportacus by the arm and began chatting happily as they moved out of earshot. Milford and Stephanie stared at each other across the distance. 

"Hi." Stephanie said at last. There was a pause. Some bluebirds were singing.

"I'm sorry." They both blurted. They looked at each other in surprise and laughed. Silence fell. Then the distance closed as they rushed into each other's arms.

"I left you! I shouldn't have-" Stephanie choked, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"You were so unhappy, and I wasn't there for you. Oh, I should have payed more attention to your needs! I'm sorry, Stephanie. Can you forgive me?" Milford said softly.

"Of course I do! I love you, uncle. Can- can you forgive me for running away?" She gasped. He squeezed her tight, rubbing up and down her trembling shoulders.

"Yes. You gave me a scare, but I love you. I'm so proud of you! You know that? What a brave, resilient, resourceful girl you are! Whatever you choose to be, a princess or a knight or a bandit- you'll always have me cheering you on. Just please, let me do that for you. Let me be there." Milford closed his eyes. The fear he'd repressed since her disappearance was spilling out like bath water displaced by the weight of their reunion. It ran cold down the walls of his heart. He held onto the girl in his arms, letting the terror wash over him and drain away.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Lady Busybody and Sportacus watched as the reunited family members hugged. 

"Isn't it beautiful?" Bessie sighed fondly. "And to think he came here worried about Sir Robert."

"Sir Robert?" Sportacus repeated.

"Yes, he rode away last night on some urgent business. We thought he was off to confront you, but evidently not." Bessie shrugged at him.

"Oh," His gaze drifted back to Stephanie and Milford. "Then... where did he go?"

"I'm not sure. Nothing happened yesterday, did it?"

"Well-" Sportacus began, but was distracted by the approaching squad of children.

"Hi Sportacus!" Ziggy bubbled. His face froze at the sight the strange man hugging Stephanie. "Who is that?"

"He's Stephanie's uncle."

"What? I thought Robbie was her uncle."

"Boy, were you wrong." Trixie snorted. "They don't even look alike."

"You thought Sir Robert was Stephanie's uncle?" Laughed Lady Busybody. Ziggy and Trixie jumped as they noticed her for the first time.

"Who is this?" Trixie pointed.

"Stephanie's aunt." Whispered Ziggy.

"No." Said Sportacus.

"I'm Lady Busybody, but you can just call me Bessie, dear." Bessie told the boy with a smile. Ziggy smiled back uncertainly and put a finger in his mouth.

"I lost my tooth, look." 

"Goodness."

Stingy and Pixel approached Stephanie with caution. She finally broke off hugging her uncle when Stingy tapped her on the shoulder.

"A-hem," he coughed. "I don't mean to be impolite, but..."

"What are you doing here, Lord Milford? In- our camp, I mean." Pixel finished.

"Oh, hello children. Lady Busybody and I came into the woods looking for Sir Robert when we were caught in a trap! Sportacus came to our rescue-"

"Why were you looking for Robbie?" Stephanie interrupted, her features sinking in concern. Milford explained the situation.

"We haven't seen Robbie since yesterday when he kidnapped Sportacus." Pixel commented when he had finished.

"He did what?" Milford blinked.

"He had him locked up in the castle, but we rescued him. It's alright now. But then we set up those traps... Maybe Robbie got stuck in one?"

"No, or Sportacus's crystal would have gone off." Stingy said, shaking his head. Sportacus, Bessie, and the other two kids appeared beside him.

"Ah, Sportacus. Can you tell me more about what happened with Robbie yesterday?" Milford asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me something." Sportacus scratched his head under his hat. "Uh, Robbie was asking me lots of questions... and he asked about... the Purple Knight?"

Milford and Bessie exchanged a look. Sportacus continued.

"He was very intense about it, if that helps." He rubbed his throat. 

"Oh my, I don't think Sir Robert was headed out to the woods at all." Milford said to Bessie.

"He borrowed his horse, Milford. Doesn't that just explain it?" Bessie replied.

"Explain what?" Stephanie interrupted again. "Where did Robbie go?"

"I fear, well, he may have gone- if I'm correct- he may be in... Rottington." Milford stammered, looking nauseous.

"What does the Purple Knight have to do with Stephanie?" Sportacus asked suddenly.

"He's my uncle." Stephanie replied.

"What?" Ziggy looked at Milford in bewilderment.

"Her other uncle." Bessie assured him a bit too sweetly. He scrunched his face, performing the necessary calculations. Trixie beat him to it.

"Wait, so there's an evil version of this guy?" She jerked her thumb at Milford, who looked hurt.

"No no no, uncle Milford is Mama's brother, the Knight is my dad's brother. He looks different." Stephanie said hastily. "And who said he was evil?"

"It's implied. You all are so theatrical..." Trixie mimed an exaggerated look of horror.

"Robbie thought the P- that Stephanie's other uncle- hired me to kidnap her." Sportacus continued urgently. "I told him it wasn't true but then..."

"Then what?" Milford urged when he trailed off.

"I may have given him... the wrong answer, the wrong idea. It was a misunderstanding, I promise!" Sportacus assured him. "I said I had met the Purple Knight, which I have. But we are NOT friends, I give you my word."

He stood nervously as seven pairs of eyes reacted to his confession. Milford opened his mouth to speak but Stephanie cut him off.

"You know my evil uncle?" She demanded, stepping closer to the bandit.

"Evil. Called it." Trixie muttered to Stingy.

"I do." Sportacus admitted. He kneeled in front of Stephanie so she was looking down into his face. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you the whole story now, but you have to trust me."

Stephanie's lips were tight. She locked her brown eyes with his blue ones.

"I trust you." She said at last. He exhaled.

"Sir Robert has gone to confront the Purple Knight! This is terrible, we must stop him somehow!" Milford cried, reminding everyone of the dire situation. 

"But how? Rottington is two days ride away, but if he left last night..." Bessie began.

"I have a way to catch up with Robbie" Sportacus stood up. "Leave it to-"

He never finished his sentence, being interrupted by the sudden appearance of a dapple gray stallion who skidded to a halt ten paces away. An unnaturally purple haze faded off the horses gleaming coat. He whinnied over the cries and shouts of the surprised humans and elf.

"Skutla?" Milford gasped. Skutla snorted. 

"Sir Robert's horse! He found us!" Bessie reached out to stroke Skutla's soft gray nose. Stephanie stared at the empty saddle.

"So..." She swallowed anxiously. "Where's Robbie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hugs make everything better
> 
> well not totally but we'll see
> 
> we shall see


	15. Chapter 15

Robbie had never thought it would take such a short time for him to miss sunlight. Sunlight meant the end of the peaceful nighttime, signaling the beginning of yet another long cycle of responsibility and tedious self care. Blech.

But it was amazing what even a few long hours shut in a dark tower could do. Robbie missed sunlight, but he would settle for the light of a lamp, or a candle. Or a glow bug. He wiggled his fingers to ensure they were still there. His hand was numb from being chained above his head where he sat on the floor against the wall. His other hand was free, which was offensively inconsistent. Good, he would direct his anger toward whoever the hell was responsible for these woeful restraining skills. Better than touching the boiling ocean of rage inside that was directed at himself, because dipping a toe in those dark waters made him feel sick.

It's just the coal dust in the air, he told himself as he coughed his lungs out once again. There wasn't much air to breath anyway. Can't breathe. Can't see. Can't think.

Robbie closed his useless eyes against the fear, but it was quicksand and it swallowed him whole. What an idiot he was, betraying everyone he loved and now suffocating in the dark all alone.

"Don't be so dramatic, Robbie." Sighed Martha.

"I'm not," he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. "I actually deserve to die this time."

"As if you haven't said that before. Help is on the way, you sad sack." The queen flicked him in the chin.

"Ow. Martha, you're gone. Forever. How exactly are you going to save me now?"

"Hmm. I'm gone for how long did you say?"

"Forever..." He started coughing again. "Martha?"

No reply. Spectacular, now even his hallucinations had left him. Well, she was wrong anyway. Nobody was coming to help him, they would be too busy trying to fend off the Purple Knight. Sportacus was going to be killed, Stephanie captured, Lord Milford would be forced to surrender, all because of Robbie's impulses. He really was a villain. Even worse, he was a pathetic lackey to the real villain, like the Sheriff of Nottingham was to Prince John in Stephanie's books. An unwilling lackey perhaps, but Sir Jean didn't seem to mind.

Right on cue, Robbie heard the sound of sliding bolts and the door banged open. The dull sunlight was blinding.

"Gah!" Robbie squeaked. "Too bright!"

"Apologies, Sir Robert. I know this isn't exactly a room with a view." Smirked Sir Jean, outlined darkly against the doorway. His armor clanked as he stalked across the dusty tower floor to tower over his prisoner, seemingly in no hurry to let him know why.

"You're not in much of a hurry." Robbie croaked. "Aren't you worried that the elf will get away?"

The Purple Knight chuckled.

"Not a bit! You, on the other hand, seem more concerned about this... bandit. I was hoping to know more about your relationship."

"There's nothing to know." Robbie glared up at the Knight.

"Surely you can tell me something. Where exactly does he hide out?"

"Who knows?" Robbie snapped. "A dirty hole. A bear cave."

"I'm sure. Anything else?" Jean pressed the steel heel of his boot into Robbie's thigh. He grimaced.

"No. I was hardly paying attention to him, what do I care?"

"You said he was beautiful." The heel pressed harder.

"Ow! I didn't say that!" Robbie tried to push his foot off with his unrestrained hand, earning a sharp kick in the ribs.

"What color are his eyes?" The Knight demanded.

"His what?"

"His eyes!" Another kick. "What color are they?"

"Blue!" Robbie gasped. "Very very blue!"

"With golden hair, right?"

"Yes- wait what? How did you-"

"Interesting." Jean purred, his foot now absentmindedly on Robbie's stomach. "What is his name?"

Robbie swallowed a cough.

"He never told me." He admitted truthfully. He shrunk as Knight narrowed his eyes at him. "Hey, you seem to know more than I do."

"Perhaps I do, Sir Robert." He stroked his goatee reflectively. Robbie shifted his cramped legs, still underneath the Knight's boot.

"I could lead you to him," he offered. "I know the woods better than anyone here."

Sir Jean looked down at him, a bemused look growing on his face. He laughed scornfully.

"But you said yourself that you couldn't find the bandit's lair. Do you really think I'm going to let you sabotage the mission to reclaim my poor niece from your 'beautiful elf'? Be content that you're keeping your life. You hold no cards here." He spat.

"Neither do you without Stehanie. Go on and kill me off then, if I have nothing to offer." Robbie challenged. Sweat was running down his neck.

"No," Jean removed his foot and stepped back, to Robbie's relief. "If you were dead I couldn't use you as leverage when negotiating with the princess. If she cares for you at all, that is."

"She doesn't." Insisted Robbie spitefully.

"We'll see. You won't come to any harm until needed. I believe your broken nose will suffice for the moment."

"My nose?" Robbie raised his free hand to his face. His nose felt swollen, and red flakes of dried blood came away on his hand. That explained the ache in his face, and why he couldn't smell anything. Small mercies, he supposed.

"Farewell, Sir Robert." The Purple Knight was turning toward the door. "I'll be leaving soon for Lazytown. Perhaps we'll find your horse in the mountains? Or what's left of it. Mountain trolls, you know. By the way," he stopped in the doorway. "The sword you were carrying when you came here. Is it yours?"

"Of course it is." Robbie grumbled, not looking up.

"Oh cheer up, you'll soon be reunited with princess Stephanie! Safe and sound in my hands, thanks to you." Sir Jean's false laughter was cut off by the heavy door slamming shut. Robbie sighed as the bolt slid into place and he was again plunged into darkness. The sigh turned into a cough.

So Sir Jean did know Sportacus. Something about that made Robbie feel uneasy, in a different way than he had felt earlier. Somehow, he wanted the Knight to stay far far away from the elf. Was he feeling... protective? Of the man he'd practically strangled the day before? He had poisoned Sportacus, locked him in a cage, interrogated him, cursed him, threatened him, wolf tackled him, _bit_ him- why care for his safety now? Because this was different.

"How is it different?" Martha asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. It just is. It's not me." Robbie fumbled. "Your brother-in-law is a pill. I told you not to marry the Blue Knight, didn't I?"

"Yes, knowing full well I do what I want. I never took your advice, why do you expect Stephanie to listen to you at all?"

"Don't change the subject." He whispered into the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sir Jean is a jerk who knows too much
> 
> Robbie might be going crazy
> 
> too bad Sportacus has no obligation to help him at all


	16. Chapter 16

"This is not a horse." Sportacus gestured to the horse.

"Well, it is now." Milford insisted.

"Yes, but it didn't used to be." Sportacus said. Skutla swung his head and looked him up and down, snorting pointedly. "Fair enough."

"Maybe Sir Robert fell off?" Lady Busybody suggested. Skutla shifted and neighed.

"No, he was pulled off. By force." Sportacus stroked Skutla's neck.

"Do you speak horse?" Milford asked curiously.

"No."

"By who, Sportacus?" Stephanie's voice held a slight tremor. "He was pulled off by who?"

Sportacus displayed his fingers. They were black with coal dust from the horses coat.

"Sir Robert made it to Rottington, I see." Milford shuddered. "The dust from the coal mines lingers in the air there. It gets on everything."

"Yes, and it looks like Robbie is in trouble." Sportacus said gravely.

"You mean the Purple Knight got him?" Stephanie tensed. She took a deep, shuddering breath and her hands flew to her eyes.

"I'm fine. Im fine." She repeated and agitatedly shrugged a comforting hand off her shoulder. Everyone was standing too close. Everything was happening too fast.

"Hey, you heard her. Back. Back off, people." Trixie was shooing her friends away from Stephanie, clearing a respectful space around her. The ex-princess waited a few more seconds until she felt she could breath again. Her hands dropped to her sides and she opened her eyes.

"Stephanie," Sportacus began in an assuring voice. "It's going to be okay. I'll go save Robbie and he-"

"No," She said abruptly. "I'm going to save Robbie. You're going to help me."

"But Stephanie, you're not-" Milford was cut off in a similar fashion.

"Not what? Not strong enough? Not smart enough? Or old enough, or brave enough? You said you believed in me, you all did. I'm enough to cause my royal training master- my friend, to be captured by my evil jerk uncle. Robbie did that because of me. Now the Purple Knight is going to let him go because of me. I'm going to give him more of me than he can handle!" Stephanie declared with fire in her voice. Her hands curled into determined fists, her strong arm muscles tensed. She felt power inside her, and it showed. Sportacus was nodding.

"I'll help you." He promised.

"Thanks." Her lips stretched in a smile.

"Duh Pinkie, we're all obviously gonna help you." Trixie leaned her elbow on Stephanie's shoulder. "Even if Robbie's a pain in the neck."

"He's _our_ pain in the neck." Stingy corrected.

"All for one and one for all!" Pixel thrust his hand out and the others stacked their hands on top. Ziggy hesitated.

"I'm not allowed to go on d-dangerous missions." He stammered dejectedly, glancing at Sportacus. A flash of guilt crossed the bandit's face. He crouched next to the boy.

"Ziggy, I know you feel left out."

"It's okay, Sportacus. I know I'm little a-and not very brave..."

"Ziggy, Ziggy no." Sportacus gripped his shoulders intently. "You are very brave! Remember when the wolf jumped on me- whoosh! And I couldn't get up? You were the first one to fight the wolf! Right there trying to save me."

"Yeah, I hit it with a stick!" Ziggy mimed his attack, then faltered. "B-but it wasn't a real wolf..."

"That doesn't make what you did less real. Ziggy, you're a special kid. But I want you to be a kid while you still can, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." Ziggy sighed. "So I'm not part of this mission again?"

"Ah." Sportacus held up a finger, looking expectantly up at Milford. "You're not part of my half of the mission, but you are not out of a job."

"Oh, I'm not going with Sportacus either." Milford said quickly. "I have to defend the castle in case the Purple Knight tries to take it over. But my knight is missing, so I need Ziggy to... take over for Sir Robert?"

"You're in good hands, my lord." Sportacus beamed. Ziggy lit up.

"You mean I could be a knight?" He breathed excitedly.

"Why not?" Milford said happily. "The more the better."

"Oh, how adorable!" Bessie whispered in his ear.

"How noble." He corrected her. The freckle-faced boy, satisfied with his inclusion, put his hand in with the other kids.

"And all for one!" He declared.

"We already said that."

"Stingy, shush."

Sportacus had moved to rifle through Skutla's saddlebag. He withdrew a wooden cork and a red leather mask.

"This is mine," Stephanie gasped when he dropped the mask into her hands. "Robbie kept it..."

"I'm glad he did, now you don't have to go without one anymore. It will be good to wear on this mission." Sportacus suggested. He scrutinized the wooden cork, shaking a few glittering particles into his palm. He ran his other hand through Skutla's mane and compared his findings.

"Pixel, take a look here." He held out his open palms. Pixel squinted at the glimmer on his hands, prying a piece of glass from his bracer to filter his vision.

"It's the same stuff. Looks pretty strong, too. I could probably replicate it, if I knew what it was supposed to do." Pixel said, popping the glass lens back in his bracer.  
"Any ideas?"

"I think it's a shortcut. A spell that takes away distances, like this." Sportacus dusted his hands off and held them apart. He slowly steepled his fingers until his palms pressed together.

"Like what exactly?" Stingy asked, blinking in confusion.

"I get it! It doesn't carry you the distance, it connects two points together so a long journey becomes a short one. A shortcut." Pixel smiled, satisfied. He started fiddling with his bracer.

"Ah, so that's how Sir Robert made a two-day journey overnight." Milford concluded.

"Wait, if it took Robbie all night to get to Rottington, how did his horse get here so fast?" Pixel asked suddenly. "Is there a bigger shortcut?"

"If there is, we need to find it." Sportacus looked at the boy urgently. Pixel met his eyes and nodded.

"I can do that." He said with confidence.

"I believe in you." Sportacus smiled fondly and turned to Stephanie. "So! What do we do when we get to Rottington?"

"We go to the Knight's castle and I demand that he releases Robbie, though he probably won't. Uncle, you said he came here to negotiate with me? I'll talk to him, which will distract him so that you all can free Robbie." Explained Stephanie, who was now wearing her mask.

"That's a good idea," Sportacus began. "It just needs..."

"It needs a bit more detail." Finished Milford.

"Right. A good plan covers all the variables." Agreed Sportacus.

"Sorry, it covers what?"

"Variables. Wer-yee-a-buls."

"I'm sorry, it's the accent..."

"We need to think of the problems." Sportacus rephrased the sentence.

"I'm working on how to get there, so come ask if you need my help for anything else." Pixel said before running off toward the treehouse. Stingy hesitated a moment, then followed him.

"Alright then," Stephanie turned to the remaining members. "Let's make a plan."

 

"This is your plan?" Stingy was skeptical.

"Wait 'til it's finished, okay?" Pixel shook a jar full of crystal shards, listening for something Stingy couldn't hear.

"Sure. Recreating some kind of wizard knight's magic teleport spell by ear, literally, must be a snap for you." Stingy picked up a red candle from the various items Pixel had spread on the blanket. "Someone like me could never understand this, anyway."

Pixel unscrewed the jar and extracted a few purple specks with his tweezers, dropping them in a silver dish. He sighed internally. Stingy was clearly bothered and needed attention to distract him. Unfortunately, distraction was the last thing Pixel needed.

"Stingy, I'm trying to concentrate here."

"Well if you want some silence why not just take your hearing aids off?" Stingy moped. Pixel threw him a shifty sidelong glance.

"Are you nervous about the mission?" He asked outright.

"Who, me? Ha ha," Stingy laughed nervously. "I'm looking forward to it! Crossing the scary mountains to the horrible dirty dirt kingdom and offering no...usable skills...for the rescue..."

"Stingy, you don't want to go, do you?"

"I have to go! I belong to this team, I'm part of the group! I-"

"So does Ziggy," Pixel pointed out. "And he's not going."

"Well, that's because he's a baby." Stingy scratched the candle with his fingernails, picking at the red curls of wax.

"Please don't ruin that candle. Look, there's nothing wrong with staying behind, you can look after Ziggy. Hand me that box?"

"Harrumph. That sounds like fun." Stingy passed the wooden box to Pixel. "What if something goes wrong, and I'm not there to help? I can't..."

Pixel looked up as his friend trailed into silence.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" He stopped working, concerned.

"I just don't...want to lose you." Stingy finished quickly, ducking his head. Pixel leaned closer to him.

"Hey, hey," he said. "Look. Nothing's gonna go wrong."

"How do you know?"

"Because I trust myself. I trust my gizmos, and I trust my friends. If anything happens, we'll figure it out like we always do." Pixel put an arm around the other boy's shoulder. "You trust us to come back safely, don't you?"

Stingy looked up to meet his eyes.

"I want to." He said quietly, then turned his head away again.

"Well," Pixel's gaze turned back to his work. "You just think about it then. Whatever you choose is totally okay. Do you have any paper I can use?"

Stingy bit his lip, then nodded and hurried off to get the paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was no good way to cut this chapter so that's why the ending is so abrupt
> 
> bruh theres so much dialogue, I think this is the most dialogue in a single chapter so far
> 
> Pixel is being who I wish I could be. a true inspiration.


	17. Chapter 17

"It's important that the Purple Knight doesn't see me." 

Milford looked up from the map they were gathered around.

"Would that be bad?" He asked Sportacus.

"Could be." The bandit replied anxiously. "I don't want to risk it."

"So did you rob this guy or what?" Trixie sidled up to Sportacus. He quirked an eyebrow at her and shook his head.

"I didn't rob him." He assured her.

"Can't you turn invisible?" Stephanie asked, as if just realizing this. "You did at the competition yesterday, I kept losing you."

"I won't be able to once we're inside the castle." He circled its location on the map. "There's a barrier all around here. It's a circle that disrupts magic, so we can't use spells once we're inside."

"-And we can't shortcut directly in or out. Right." Stephanie hooked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking pensive.

"You'll get in over the drawbridge, that's the only entrance." Sportacus showed her on the map. "I can go over the wall, but we'll meet up after I find Robbie and make our way outside the barrier. After that: home free."

"What's with this 'I' and 'you' business? Where are Pixel and Stingy and I?" Trixie demanded.

"Backup." He said with enthusiasm. "If anything goes wrong, you go and protect Stephanie, and Pixel helps me with Robbie. Stingy can...help too."

Sportacus frowned. While an extra pair of hands may be useful, Stingy didn't have any unique skills relevant to the mission. Although, he was a talented bandit in other respects. Was he more likely to be an asset or a liability?

The question was taken out of Sportacus's hands later when Pixel and Stingy presented their collaborative plan of travel. They stood in the shade of the trees while the boys demonstrated in the late afternoon sun.

"So, I got the shortcut spell to work," Pixel buzzed excitedly. The rest of the group watched as he held up a small maroon-colored candle for Stingy to light. The flame sparkled brightly and Pixel lowered his mask.

"Okay, here goes." He motioned them to stand back and turned to face the clearing. The candle clutched tightly in his hand, Pixel took a deep breath and ran forward. A cloud of glitter burst from the candle flame and swirled into purple vortex which swallowed the boy whole. It then vanished, leaving a fading sparkly haze in the air.

"W-where is he? Where did he go?" Ziggy chewed his lip anxiously and looked to Sportacus. Sportacus dashed across the clearing.

"Pixel?" He called into the trees beyond. For a moment, there was no reply. Then a figure emerged running back into the clearing.

"It might have worked a little too well!" Pixel panted as he rejoined the group. "I went farther than I expected."

"So this candle is going to take you to Rottington?" Milford squinted at the burnt up candle stub in Pixel's hand. Pixel shook his head.

"Not this one, it's all used up. I have a bigger candle that we can light twice. One end will take us there, and the other will get us back. But look," Pixel pulled off his mask and turned it over to reveal the spell markings inside. There were a few new markings, drawn in black wax. "I can connect us all to the spell by grounding it through our masks, like this. It should be strong enough, considering they're all magical already. And we'll bring a mask for Robbie so that he can get home too."

"Good thinking, Pixel." Sportacus put his hands on Pixel and Stingy's shoulders. "You too, Stingy."

Sportacus noticed Stingy avoiding his eyes. Perhaps he had something to say.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Stephanie spoke up, her patience becoming strained. 

"We have the plan, we have transport, I think that's it. Let's go." Sportacus gave her a thumbs-up and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Stingy cried.

"What's wrong?" 

"I'm not going." He said quickly. "I'm not going on the mission with you."

"Stingy, why not?" Stephanie's shoulders drooped a little.

"I-I'm, I have stay and watch after...Ziggy." He looked at the dirt. Stephanie started to speak again but Sportacus was faster.

"That's a good idea, Stingy. I'll feel better with you keeping an eye on things while the rest of us are gone."

Stingy nodded gratefully.

"And then I won't be alone!" Ziggy grabbed at Stingy's arm happily. "You and me can be knights together, it'll be so much fun!"

"Hurray."

"So it's just the four of us then." Stephanie was urgent. Trixie patted her quiver of arrows contentedly.

"Ready when you are, pink leader." She smirked and saluted the princess.

"Aye aye, captain." Pixel saluted.

"Waiting on you." Sportacus smiled, touching his forehead in a two-fingered salute. Stephanie relaxed and put her fists on her hips.

"Alright. Operation: Rescue Robbie starts now." She returned the salute.

 

Milford finally released his niece from one last bone-crushing farewell hug. Bessie, Stingy and Ziggy had given their hugs and well-wishes already, but Milford was nearly unable to let go. Stephanie was heading into danger and he was allowing it. This was new territory for him.

"Just come back safe." He told her for the tenth time. Stephanie just nodded her head, her eyes steely and distant She was trying to be so brave, and Milford was sure his fussing wasn't much help. "I'm always here to help, if you need it. And you know that young Stingy is never far away."

Stingy's mask had been rigged to transport him back to the group if he needed to, much to his relief. He didn't feel so bad about staying behind if he was technically backup.

"I know, uncle Milford. Don't worry, Sportacus is with me, and so are Pixel and Trixie. We're in good hands." Stephanie smiled confidently.

"Be careful when you meet the Purple Knight. He's very tricky and sly, don't tell him anything if you can help it. You are his niece so I doubt he'd hurt you, but he will try to take advantage of whatever he can."

"I won't give him the advantage." She said with resolve. Skutla snorted. Stephanie reached out and stroked the horse's soft grey nose. "Don't worry, horse. You'll see Robbie again soon, I promise."

The horse responded by shaking his mane. 

"Come on, Pinkie! I thought we were in a hurry!" Trixie called. The bandits were huddled on the road facing Rottington. The sun was just beginning to set beyond the distant mountains, its piercing rays bidding them a blinding goodbye. Stephanie broke away from her uncle and joined her companions. simultaneously, they fastened their masks around their heads.

"Now, we have to stay together so we should probably hold hands." Pixel instructed. He blushed a little as Stephanie slipped her hand in his. Trixie took Stephanie's other hand, and Sportacus grasped on to Trixie. Pixel held out the candle for Stingy to light.

"Thanks." He said as the flame sparkled to life.

"Come back safe." Stingy whispered. He stepped away to watch with Ziggy, who was waving prematurely.

"We're going to run on the count of three," Pixel continued, keeping his eyes on the flaming candle in his hand. "Whatever happens, try not to let go."

"What if we do?" Asked Trixie. 

"I don't know."

Sportacus felt Trixie's hand tighten in his as Pixel began to count.

"Three, two..."

Sportacus glanced down the row of kids, tensing in preparation for the run. Stephanie stared straight ahead, her masked eyes focused intensely on the horizon.

"Three!"

They ran. The glittering vortex grew from the candle flame and opened before them. Together, they charged straight into the heart.

Skutla neighed and broke away from Milford, galloping forward. 

Inside the vortex was blindingly purple. The rescue party clung to each other's hands with all their might, but with each step some tremendous force tried to tug them apart. Suddenly, a crackle of light surged down the chain of hands, bursting off their masks like lightning. Sportacus reached out with his free hand and caught Trixie's arm as she began to stumble. The lightning burned. The end of the vortex was steps away, a view of the plains of Rottington nearly visible through the purple haze. Steps away.

That's when Trixie's hand was wrenched from Stephanie's, and Stephanie's from Pixel's, and the light swallowed them up. 

Stephanie stumbled into emptyness, hearing nothing but distant drumbeats. Something grabbed the scruff of her neck and threw her on her back in the dirt. She lay still, feeling blood drip down her burning face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghhhh
> 
> Oh Stingy. he feels gutless but he is stronger than he knows
> 
> As experimental magic malfunctions go, this could have been worse
> 
> i was going to draw something for this chapter but no too busy proc r a s t a t i n g ~_~


	18. Chapter 18

I'm bleeding? I'm bleeding!

Stephanie's hands flew to her face. The mask she still wore burned against her skin and thick hot liquid ran down her cheeks. She ripped away the leather and flung the mask aside. Running her fingers through the blood to examine it, she discovered it wasn't blood at all, but melted black wax. The wax that Pixel had drawn the shortcut spell with.

Pixel!

"Pixel?" Stephanie sputtered hoarsely, struggling to sit up. She instantly felt nauseous and laid back down in the dirt. What dirt was this?

She rolled into her stomach and lifted her head. Dirt stretched out before her in any direction she looked. To one side stood the mountains, and when she looked around she saw flickering lights in the distance through a curtain of black smog. A town, probably. She was in Rottington, and somehow all alone.

"Sportacus? Trixie? Pixel?" Stephanie called again. A noise from behind startled her and she scrambled to sit up on her knees. A blast of warm air blew through her rumpled hair.

"Hey! Horse." Stephanie turned to face Robbie's horse. "What are you doing here, huh?"

Skutla snorted another puff of air into her face. She stood shakily, gripping his bridle to steady herself.

"Never mind then. We have to find the others and get back on track. The sun is going down." She squinted at the horizon. The air wasn't as clear as it was in Lazytown, but the sun was still visibly sinking behind the town in the distance.

"Let's go look at that town," Stephanie pointed and the horse's head swiveled in the direction of her finger. She bent to pick up her discarded mask and dusted it off. "Don't give me that look. We'll keep out of sight and wait for everyone to regroup. It makes sense, right?"

Skutla regarded the idea with equine skepticism. Stephanie gazed up at the saddle on the horse's back, seeing no obvious way to mount it. She managed to lift her leg up high enough to hook her foot into one of the stirrups, which devolved into one legged hopping when said foot became stuck in this position. In the end her only accomplishment was testing Skutla's patience.

"So it looks like I'm on foot then." Stephanie sighed, standing up from where she'd fallen after battling with the stirrup. She patted the horses neck. "Come on, let's hoof it."

Her four-legged companion didn't seem to appreciate the joke, but plodded beside her as she began to walk somewhat wearily across the bare dirt plain. A chilly wind swept over them, stirring up small eddies of black dust. Stephanie coughed. Skutla sneezed. The sun disappeared when they had reached the town's outskirts, and Stephanie struggled to read the blackened signpost.

"Mining... Mining Town?" She read out loud, turning to Skutla. The horse replied with the horse equivalent of a shrug. Unlike the orderly round architecture of Lazytown, Mining Town sprawled across the plain like a discarded pile of rotten wood. Clusters of precarious-looking structures hung crookedly over a twisting network of wooden boardwalks. Although the sky was almost completely dark, shadowy figures moved along the boardwalks, carrying sacks or heavy tools. The lamplight was sparse where Stephanie and Skutla stood, but it seemed to increase further into town. Stephanie hesitated to venture inward.

"Where should we go?" She whispered to the horse. There were strange noises echoing from beyond the boardwalks, the screeching of metal and a rhythmic pounding that made the ground tremor noticeably beneath her feet. Led by curiosity, Stephanie began to stealthily pick her way up the nearest path. Skutla followed with unexpected grace. The noises grew louder as they moved along in the shadows, and the coal dust in the air became thick and choking. They froze when a sudden wave of shouting voices broke through the din. People began scurrying down the boardwalks, their heavy boots shaking the wooden structure. Stephanie searched frantically for a place to hide her and Skutla. Spotting a dark gap in a wall across the path between two buildings, she grabbed Skutla's bridle, leading the horse as quickly as she dared. Fortunately, the people seemed distracted enough not to notice them. There were men and women, children and the elderly, all wearing leather goggles and dingy jackets streaked with black dust. They shuffled into rows at the side of the walkway, obscuring the hiding place Stephanie was trying to reach. She searched for a new hiding spot. Both sides of the wide boardwalk were lined with people, leaving the girl and the horse isolated in the middle. Heads turned curiously as Stephanie began leading Skutla past the onlookers. There was nowhere to hide.

"Make way!" A voice bellowed from up the boardwalk. Stephanie froze as the drumming of hooves shook the wood beneath her feet. She turned to face the group of armed men on horses that cantered into view, her heart stilling at the sight of the Purple Knight's banner in the hand of the foremost rider. Skutla and Stephanie were caught in plain view in the center of the boardwalk as the horses bore down on them.

"Halt!" The lead rider pulled up in front of the horse and girl blocking his path. Stephanie braced herself as the entire group suddenly reigned in their horses, conjuring a wind that swept over her. The lead rider leaned forward in his saddle to get a closer look at the girl. He handed the banner off to the man closest to him, who Stephanie recognized as the servant she'd met a few weeks before. That encounter already seemed like a lifetime ago.

She stiffened as the as the rider who she assumed was the Purple Knight himself, judging from his armor, dismounted and approached with clanking steps. He stopped less than a foot away from Stephanie, as though expecting her to draw back. When she didn't move, he reached up and removed his helmet.

"Princess Stephanie, I presume?" Her uncle smiled in a way that could be fondness, but was perhaps a trick of the flickering lamplight. Stephanie tilted her head back meet his eyes. She had imagined he would look how she barely remembered her father's face, warm and soft with bright eyes. The sharp angles of her uncle's face sliced through that dim memory. His features were crinkled in a permanently wily expression, and the hair on his face was as dark as the long curls flowing over his shoulders. Stephanie recalled the pink curls she had cut from her own head.

"The Purple Knight, I presume?" She mimicked boldly.

"In the flesh, your highness." He bowed. She hesitated before remembering to curtsy in return. It was a flawless curtsy, one even Robbie would have been satisfied with.

"What a surprise to see you in Rottington! We were just on our way to rescue you from those infamous bandits, but it seems you have freed yourself already."

"The bandits are loyal to me, I can do as I please." Stephanie said carefully. She wasn't sure how much her uncle knew, and was determined not to give him any ammunition.

"Interesting. Where is the... Blue Bandit? Is that what he's called? I heard he'd run off with you, but if that's not the case then I am curious to meet him." The shadows flickering over Purple Knight's face concealed his eyes as he spoke.

"No, you don't need to meet him."

"So you're alone then? With Sir Robert's horse..." The Knight nodded at Skutla. "However did you make it here so fast, after Sir Robert-"

"Yeah, about Sir Robert," Stephanie interrupted in her clear, high voice. "You're holding him prisoner, aren't you? I came here to demand that you release him."

  
The Knight's sharp eyebrows went up.

"My dear niece, you have it all wrong. Sir Robert merely came to enlist my help in rescuing you. He is at my castle, unharmed, and I'm sure he will be delighted to see you here." He chuckled under his breath after the last remark.

"I want to see Ro- Sir Robert." Stephanie demanded. "If you are telling the truth, you'll take me to your castle. Now."

"As you wish, your highness." The Purple Knight bowed once more and beckoned his servant to hold his horse steady. He put one foot in the stirrup, then turned and reached out for Stephanie. She backed away from his touch.

"Don't want to ride with me?" Her uncle asked. She shook her head, trying to find an alternative. Skutla's nose bumped into her shoulder and she reached up to grasp his bridle.

"I have my own horse, thank you." Stephanie assured the Knight. She watched him mount his steed with his servant's help. His eyes were on her now, waiting for her to climb into Skutla's saddle. She gulped. The horse's back was just as high as before, a few feet above her line of vision. Burning under the observing eyes of her uncle and apparently all of Rottington, she reached for the pommel and Skutla helpfully buckled his knees and sank to the ground. She patted his dappled neck gratefully and mounted with ease. Once she was secure in the saddle, the horse got to his hooves and turned to face the Purple Knight. Stephanie sat up with dignity. Her uncle looked amused.

"Well done. Let's not tally then, off to the castle!" The Knight took up his banner and turned to ride into the horde of riders behind him. They split apart like the arrow Trixie had pierced with her winning shot as he passed straight through. Stephanie held tight to the reigns as Skutla immediately followed. She could feel the breath of horses on her legs as she rode by. The gap closed behind her as she emerged next to the Purple Knight. They rode side by side, followed by closely by the three dozen mounted guards as they pounded down the boardwalks of Mining Town. The grimy faces of the citizens (miners?) rushed past on both sides.

Stephanie leaned forward in the saddle. She hoped that no one noticed that this was her first time on a horse. She hoped her friends were on their way. She hoped when they reached the castle, she wouldn't be all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The note for this chapter in my draft is "mining town, by the way, fucking sucks"
> 
> Someone get this child out of here please
> 
> Also if you have a tumblr account I have a blog now at @breakfastandfurious if you wanna ask me questions or tell me how bad your day was or just see pictures of me in my underwear
> 
> there's no way this could go wrong


	19. Chapter 19

"This is just nasty." Trixie coughed, kicking aside a clump of grease-soaked rags. Sportacus nudged the rags away from the nearest lamp.

"Fire hazard." He warned. The vortex had dropped the two of them into what appeared to be an underground coal processing facility. The room had been empty when they appeared out of nowhere, stumbling into a mountain of sifted coal. They were now both sneezing and filthy with black coal dust. Fire hazard indeed.

"What is this place? I think I went to jail here once." Scoffed Trixie. She experimentally rapped her fist against a tall metal vat, looking disappointed with the sound response.

"I think we're in Mining Town." Sportacus rubbed his eyes with his dirty hands. "That means we made it to Rottington, but we have to get out of here- oh, someone's coming! Hide!"

The bandits ducked behind a line of leather jackets hanging on the wall. They peeked between the sleeves as a few tired looking workers descended through a hatch on a pulley elevator, each carrying a sort of metal plate pierced with holes.

"-and it's not like we need to. Oh no. That's what you get for dropping an axe on master Kicker, of course." One of them said accusingly to another.

"He should've been thankful it was just his foot, which didn't even get chopped off or anything. He just doesn't see the positive side of things." Scoffed the other worker.

"If you chopped off Kicker's foot, I would be seeing the bright side of things." The third worker kicked the elevator door open and stomped into the facility.

"Because you'd be seeing the bright fires in the furnace. Where he would put us." The first worker corrected, snapping their goggles on. The three got to work on the pile of coal dust, scooping bucketfuls and pouring them through the holes in the metal plates. From their hiding place, the bandits watched them sift and plot dubious revenge for their petty task. A sudden tremor shook the facility.

"At least we're not the only ones still up. Misery with company!"

"My kids aren't sleeping tonight."

The conversation sobered. The room shook with a second tremor, followed by another and another until it steadied into rhythmic pulsing. Trixie's teeth rattled in her skull.

"Let's just knock 'em out and beat it." She whispered to Sportacus. He put a finger to his lips as the overhead hatch opened.

"Hey! Anybody down there?" A voice bellowed down. 

"Nobody!" One of the workers called out sarcastically.

"Parade!" The voice screamed impatiently. The workers instantly dropped their task and ran to the elevator. When they disappeared from sight, Sportacus and Trixie emerged from the jackets. 

"Here." Sportacus unhooked a leather jacket and tossed it to Trixie. He grabbed another for himself and pulled it on. The jacket fit him better than Trixie's, which practically reached her knees. 

"Sweet disguises. What's going on up there?"

"A diversion for us to get away, that's what." Sportacus suggested. He grabbed two pairs of discarded goggles before they began climbing up the elevator cable.

It was dark outside when they emerged from below ground. The pounding continued to shake the wooden boardwalks that sprawled out around them. Miners of all sizes were running down the boardwalks toward some unknown destination. Sportacus handed Trixie a pair of goggles.

"Stay close." He whispered, pulling his own pair over his face. They took each other's hands and moved into the tide of people. Bodies pressed on all sides as the bandits were swept along the boardwalk. The wood beneath their feet shook with the drumming of hoofbeats, and Sportacus craned his neck to see a party of of mounted soldiers bearing down on the crowd. He pulled Trixie through the crowd toward the edge of the boardwalk where people were lining up, pressing back as far as they could away from the oncoming horses.

"Who are they?" Trixie half-yelled over the din.

"I think," Sportacus leaned closer to her ear. "I think that one- in the front. That's the Purple Knight. See his banner?"

"Yeah I see him." 

The riders galloped by, and the people lining their route were hit by the noise and wind that they raised. But just before the last few horses had passed by Sportacus and Trixie, the party stumbled to an unsynchronized halt.

"What's happening up there? Why are we stopping?" One rider called. The others surrounding him murmured in confusion. Sportacus strained to see the front of the line.

"Stay right here." He whispered to Trixie. "I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Are you crazy? What happened to NOT being caught by the bad guy? That was a good plan, Sportacus." Trixie grabbed onto his jacket sleeve.

"The plan was that he wouldn't see me." Sportacus smirked and faded from sight. Trixie fixed her eyes on where she knew he was standing. 

"Okay, I guess. Come right back." Trixie released his sleeve.

"I'll do that." Invisible Sportacus moved stealthily up the line, creeping around the stamping horses and dodging their rider's feet. What he saw when he reached the front made him momentarily freeze. Right ahead of him was Stephanie standing alone with Robbie's horse, and in front of her was the Purple Knight. They were inches apart. Sportacus noticed Stephanie's dignified posture as she spoke with her uncle, and he moved a bit closer to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"You're holding him prisoner, aren't you?" Stephanie said sharply. "I came to demand that you release him."

Sportacus watched the Knight's face twist in deliberate surprise. 

"My dear niece, you have it all wrong. Sir Robert merely came to enlist my help in rescuing you. He is at my castle, unharmed, and I'm sure he will be delighted to see you here." 

His soft chuckle betrayed his falsehood. Sportacus clenched a fist, feeling his chest grow hot. Robbie wasn't unharmed. He was distracted with worry as Stephanie successfully demanded to be taken to the castle. She refused to ride with her uncle, and Sportacus saw her nervously approach Sir Robert's horse.

She can't ride, she can't even get on, he realized. Invisible, he slipped across the boardwalk to stand by her side. Stephanie's hand had found the pommel, but there was no way she could mount such a tall horse. Sportacus tapped Skutla's ear and whispered a few words. The horse compliantly buckled his knees and lowered his body enough for Stephanie to climb into the saddle. When she readily faced the Purple Knight, the bandit took a moment to cheer her on, unseen and unheard. 

"You're very brave," he breathed like a prayer. "Stay safe."

He watched Stephanie ride into the throng of horses and out of sight before he remembered Trixie. Moving quickly, he squeezed between the riders on his way back to where he left her. The horses gradually began moving forward and he ducked out of the line, narrowly avoiding being trampled under their armored hooves.

"Hello." He faded back into view beside Trixie. She jumped and grabbed his arm.

"Sportacus! Did you see her go by? Stephanie-"

"I know. They're heading back to the castle to see Sir Robert." Sportacus swallowed. "But I don't think he'll let her see Robbie...we just need to stick to the plan for now."

"And find Pixel."

"Yes," Sportacus hoped that Pixel had gone straight ahead with the plan on his own, wherever the shortcut had deposited him. "Maybe we'll find him at the castle."

"We better. He's our only way back- among, you know like, other things." Trixie drew back as the last few horses passed a bit too close. The miners on either side of them began to disperse in various directions, and the bandits took the chance to grab hands and hurry after the Knight. 

The tremors pulsing through the ground grew more violent as they passed by a strange facility. The surrounding structures were crooked and rotten, but this was neither old nor crumbling. It was less-than-gleaming metal surrounded by a framework of wood that indicated it was unfinished, although clearly functional enough to shake it's surroundings. A machine of enormous size sat in the center of the structure, with workers scrambling around pulling countless levers, checking tubes connected to the live furnaces beneath, and pumping bellows into the roaring orange fires.

"It has a face." Sportacus commented, pointing to the top of the machine. Two hatches formed wide menacing eyes. A blast of smoke poured from the 'mouth'.

"Ugh. What's it doing?" Trixie covered her ears. Sportacus just shook his head and guided her along past the machine. They had to reach the castle before Stephanie needed their help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gangs all here- ish
> 
> Adventures in mining town p 2


	20. Chapter 20

A breeze swept over the top of the rocky mountain. Pixel ran a hand through his orange hair, surveying the plains beyond his vantage point. On one hand, he'd almost gotten to Rottington. On the other hand his own spell had left him on top of a mountain. Not a total loss, but definitely not a win. So far he hadn't found any of his friends, so he could only hope that they'd gotten farther than him. If not, well...

Pixel kicked a pebble down the mountain slope, watching it bounce off the rocks and stir up dirt. The sun was ready to sink behind the horizon and it was almost chilly on the mountaintop. His hearing aids hadn't been damaged in the mayhem, and he could hear the wind whistling across the plains below. He laid out all of his supplies in the gray dirt- the two-sided candle (half burnt), a box of cedar matches, his mask, a length of rope, his multi-tool...

Why hadn't the spell worked? The lightning. The vortex. The connection between their masks hadn't been strong enough, or not focused enough? Too scattered, too hot. He should have contained the candle and channeled its energy through something other than his hand. Maybe he could build something here. Surrounded by nothing but rocks and his source of light fading fast.

Well, there was no such thing as an easy problem.

Pixel looked up as the last rays of sun disappeared behind a mossy boulder. Only a dim haze of light was left in the sky, but it was enough to see as far as the boulder. It was strange that he couldn't see any moss on the surrounding rocks. Just too dark, he told himself. Focus on the real problem.

A short scraping noise made him lift his head again in the direction of the boulder. There was nothing moving.

"Hello?" Pixel called cautiously. Receiving no reply, he stood and walked a bit closer, searching for the source of the sound. He let his hand brush against the soft moss when the boulder suddenly gave a slight shake. 

"Whoah." Pixel backed away quickly. The boulder shifted, stood up and turned to face him with huge glassy eyes. The mountain troll opened its wide mouth.

"Da?" It gurgled.

"Um," Pixel froze. He'd never seen a troll in person before, only read the stories and literature about them. "Hi there."

The troll blinked. According to popular belief, mountain trolls ate everything- and everyone- they got a hold of. Pixel kept his eyes trained on the lipless mouth that hung slightly open, revealing a few blunt teeth. Overall, the creature was smaller than he'd expected. Was it a baby? Patches of thick moss like hair covered most of the troll's stony hide, and it's face was relatively smooth and round, with a flat button nose. It didn't match the illustrations Pixel had seen of the towering craggy-faced adult mountain trolls.

"Are you a baby troll?" He asked softly, keeping his distance.

"Ough."

"Okay then. It was good to meet you." Pixel rolled up his supplies and stuffed them back in his pack. "I'd love to stay a while, but my friends need me- oops."  
His mask slipped out of the pack and fell in the dirt. He grabbed for it but the breeze blew it out of his reach. And into the reach of the troll.

"No, wait!" The troll scooped up the mask with a clumsy stone paw and tilted its head curiously. Its mouth opened.

"No don't! I need that mask, please don't..." The troll dropped the mask inside it's mouth. "...eat. It. Oh darn, oooh no." Pixel grabbed his hair in distress. Now he had to get that back somehow, which was impossible. Improbable at least. 

"Awno?" The baby troll repeated, blinking it's long green eyelashes. Okay, maybe he could communicate with it. 

"Heeey," Pixel said slowly, waving a friendly hand. "My name is Pixel. Pix-el. What's yours?"

The troll's mouth hung open, and he could see his mask caught between it's back teeth.

"Oars."

"No." Pixel pointed to himself. "Pixel." He pointed to the troll. "You?"

"Lou."

"Yeah, you. You."

"Lu-Lu."

"No- okay." He sighed. "Hi, Lu-Lu. Lu-Lu, can I have that please? In your mouth?"

Lu-Lu watched curiously as the boy gestured to his teeth. She stepped closer.

"Yeah right, now..." Pixel motioned to his mouth. Lu-Lu raised a hand to her mouth. "That's it! Great- ah!"

He squirmed as a huge mossy hand locked around his midsection and lifted him off the ground. He rose high in the air, watching the baby troll become smaller far down below. Twisting his neck and bending his head back to see what had grabbed him, Pixel found himself staring into the enormous, craggy, beak-nosed face of an adult mountain troll. All the breath left his lungs. The troll didn't look happy, but it wasn't easy to assign expressions to essentially a scruffy rock. An angry landslide of a face, with a bulbous monument of a moss-covered body beneath it. 

"Whoah," Pixel gasped. "You're...amazing. Incredible!"

This was his first troll encounter, and needless to say, absolutely breathtaking. He could at least enjoy the wonders of nature before those wonders eventually dismembered or ate him. The big troll brought the boy closer to his beady eyes (Lu-Lu obviously would grow into hers) and turned him side to side. Pixel felt dizzy. The troll raised a finger of his other hand and gently ruffled the boy's orange hair, squinting at the shiny hearing devices on his ears.

"Um," Pixel began. The troll ignored him and moved his empty hand to grasp Lu-Lu's. Pixel lurched along in the troll's grip as he and his baby strolled away up the mountain. The ground rushed by under Pixel's vantage point, and he lost track of Rottington's direction in the darkness. This was definitely a turn for the worse, but hey. No such thing as an easy problem. He wouldn't let getting kidnapped by mountain trolls stop him from reaching his friends. He wouldn't fail, he couldn't. Not when the stakes were this high.

But oh man, was he far from home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our boy is in an awkward situation
> 
> but things are about to get not better
> 
> I might have to change some tags because of what I wrote recently...


	21. Chapter 21

Nightfall brought out the dramatic side of the Purple Knight's castle. Torches lined the bare stone walls, their shuddering flames causing the crooked towers to glow orange against the darkness. Sir Jean gazed up at his fortress in admiration, then glanced to ensure that his niece was doing the same. She was perched on Sir Robert's horse, clearly worn out from the ride but not willing to show it. All too familiar. He watched her flinch as the drawbridge hit the dirt. 

"After you." He gestured to the open entrance. Stephanie said nothing, but leaned forward with a blank expression as her horse stepped onto the drawbridge. She turned her head slightly to gaze into the dark trench that surrounded the castle.

"Welcome home, Princess Stephanie." The Purple Knight said after joining her in the courtyard.

"What do you mean?" Stephanie furrowed her brow.

"I only mean that I hope you feel at home here. After all, this place is part of your family history. Your blood is on the walls, speaking figuratively-" He waved a hand vaguely. "And literally."

"Where is Sir Robert?" Stephanie asked bluntly, wasting no time ignoring his last remark. Instead of replying, the knight called his servant to help him dismount, then stalked over to grab Skutla's bridle.

"Patience, dear niece. Poor Sir Robert is surely exhausted, and you and I have a few things to discuss first." Sir Jean quirked an eyebrow at her. "If you're able to do that on your own, of course."

Stephanie's mouth went in a tight, agitated line. Her eyes darted to the cluster of towers above her before returning to her uncle.

"Of course." 

"Excellent."

 

Stephanie shivered in the breeze as the Knight led her up the stone steps, through a doorway and down a hall. The servant she recognized followed them into a darkened room and knelt by the fireplace. Flames roared to life, illuminating an oversized armchair and an adjacent bench. Her uncle slouched heavily in the armchair, and as she sat timidly on the bench Stephanie felt eerily reminded of her lessons with Robbie back in the castle library. She tensed when the Knight suddenly flung out an arm.

"So, tell me." He began as the servant appeared at his side and began undoing his gauntlet. "Why did you run away from your royal life? Perhaps you don't enjoy the company of your other uncle?"

"No, not that. I love uncle Milford." Stephanie was a bit offended on his behalf.

"Someone else then?" The Purple knight leaned forward so the servant could remove his breastplate. "Sir Robert was very concerned about you."

"I left because I wanted to see more of the world. The experience is important for when I take over as ruler."

"Of course, because robbing travelers and sleeping under trees is what makes you a great queen. Do you feel as though the burden of royal life is too great for you? Do you wish to be free of it?"

"No, I don't feel like- I'm happy to follow in my parents footsteps."

"Well, what a good child you are. Do you miss your parents?"

Stephanie blinked at him. What answer was he looking for? She nodded hesitantly.

"I miss your parents too." The Knight said with a sigh. "My brother and I grew distant after his marriage, but he was always dear to me. Though we had our- disagreements, his disappearance devastated me, and only now I discover that he left behind a child. Imagine my excitement when Kit brought me word of your existence." He gestured to the servant, who was now in the corner cleaning off the already gleaming breastplate. Kit shot Stephanie an odious gold-toothed grin, which she ignored. "I was hesitant to believe the report, because it's so strange that such an important fact would be hidden from me. A whole lost niece! I do feel responsible for the shameful amount of time you spent as an orphan. If only you and I had met sooner- you see, I think we have much in common."

"Like what?" Stephanie asked blankly.

"Like Ambition." He leaned forward in his chair, resting an arm on his still-armored knee. "We don't wait for other's permission to improve our lives, we go and take what's ours, right? You never wanted this uptight royal life- it's far too limiting. You want more, and I can help you."

Stephanie struggled to stay completely still as the Knight searched her face eagerly. 

"What do you want from me."

"You mean, what do I want for you? Obviously you abandoned your old training master because you have far surpassed him. Sir Robert tried to make you into a royal pet, but I could build you into a ruler. Lazytown is vulnerable, my dear. Your kingdom stands alone. It needs a strong leader, a real leader. Stand by me, and you have the strength of Rottington at your disposal, as well as our allies." He rested his chin on his fist. "We have powerful allies."

"Listen Sir- um, uncle..." Stephanie realized that she didn't know the Purple Knight's name.

"Sir Jean." He smiled. "But please, uncle Jean to you."

"Okay. Uncle Jean. I... know that you just want my castle. And I'm here to get Sir Robert, I don't want anything else from you. Uncle Milford is more than capable of-"

"Oh, I wouldn't trust Milford to keep your little town safe for much longer."

"Why not?" She demanded.

"There are...certain things that will come to light when you take the throne. Things you are not prepared for." Jean's tone darkened. "Just look at yourself. Do you think you will be feared? You won't. Not enough to face what's coming."

"Well, I have some time to prepare." Stephanie stood abruptly from the bench and crossed her arms. "I don't trust you. And I definitely don't agree to be your ward, or whatever. Cause you're right, I'm ambitious- so you can't use me for your schemes. I've been raised by uncle Milford and Robbie since I was five, and they gave me some ideas about what kind of leader I want to be. Someone who... who wants the best for others. Someone who doesn't just give up or give in when things get difficult. So I won't rule with fear, Sir Jean. Strong rulers don't need to be feared."

Sir Jean was frowning. He clasped his hands irritably.

"I see those two have made quite an impression on you." He paused, as if struck by a thought. "Since you were five, you say? That would make you...how old now?"

"Eleven- no twelve. Twelve this summer." 

"Twelve..."

A chuckle escaped the Knight's throat. Kit looked up from his corner as it escalated into scathing laughter.

"Ha! Oh my dear child." Sir Jean snorted. "Tell you what, I think we ought to pay Sir Robert a visit after all."

Stephanie had no time to react before he clamped a rough hand around her forearm. She stumbled as her uncle strode briskly from the room, yanking her along behind him. Her mind darted about frantically for the meaning behind this turn of events. What had she said? 

Uncle Milford's warning rang in her head as she was led down a dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robbie is going to be thrilled
> 
> Any allies of Rottington prooooobably arent your friends
> 
> Stephanie was delivering a beatdown for a second there. go girl


	22. Chapter 22

Mountain trolls were hoarders. Meaning, they kept hoards. Pixel learned this when he became part of such a hoard, along with a haphazardly sorted heap of shiny objects. He sat down on a leather saddle that was draped over...some kind of wheel. The baby troll, Lu-Lu, watched him curiously as he sorted through the debris at his feet. Some items were magical, most weren't. Either way, the situation was pretty lucky for Pixel. The big troll had left him alone in a cave with Lu-Lu and their hoard, and surely something he could use to get back on track. But first...

"Lu-Lu?" He looked up suddenly. The baby troll's round eyes went wider.

"Oars." She squeaked.

"Yeah. Can you say ah? Aaah." He stretched his mouth wide open.

"Aaah." Lu-Lu's mouth opened and sure enough, his enchanted mask was caught between her back teeth. She seemed to notice the obstruction all of a sudden, and tried to use thick finger to reach it.

"Hey, here, lemme get that for you." Pixel stood on the saddle and put a hand on the trolls arm for balance while he peered into her mouth. To his relief, she seemed to understand and kept it open. He took a deep breath.

"Okay, here we go..." He stretched an arm toward the mask. It was farther than it looked, and he stood up on his toes to lean into the trolls mouth. If only he had a gizmo to do this for him, he thought wistfully. Lu-Lu ground her stony teeth together once Pixel had extracted the mask- and himself- from her mouth.

"Got it! Thanks, Lu-Lu." The mask was in pretty good shape for getting chewed on by a troll. But to use it, Pixel still had to sort out the problems with the candle and how to channel it's magic energy. He kneeled on the floor of the cave and continued digging through the objects in the trolls hoard. Crystals on the cave walls provided a soft glowing light as he worked. The readings on his bracer guided him toward enchanted objects, although some of them he could tell were cursed. Best to avoid those. The baby troll plopped heavily to the floor and began scooping up random objects, helpfully offering them to Pixel.

"Da!" She pushed a helmet into the boy's arms. He glanced at the gift in confusion, while Lu-Lu eagerly waited.

"No, not this. But thank you." He shrugged, dropping the helmet and getting back to the pile. Something jabbed bluntly into his back.

"Oof! Lu-Lu, what are-" he snapped, turning around to discover her weapon of choice.

"Da." The troll stated, shoving a teapot into Pixel's chest. His arms curled to grab the teapot before it fell, and he reeled from the unexpected weight. It seemed to be made of gold.

"Huh, looks like there's some serious magical energy in this thing," Pixel set the teapot on the cave floor as the stones in his bracer began to glow brightly. He twisted off the round lid and looked inside. Empty, but whatever the teapot once contained had been powerful. It still glittered with residual magic. With any luck, there was enough left to suit his needs. Lu-Lu sucked on her fingers as she watched Pixel wedge the purple candle into the teapot opening. He tied his mask into his face and shouldered his pack, then paused while getting ready to strike a match.

Something about the baby troll's granite-like hide suddenly triggered a memory. Stone skin. The faces of his mothers- grey and still. Familiar and loved and frozen like death. Penny's hair ribbons not swaying, Halla's soft arms cold and hardened. His tears rolling down their stone shoulders while he pleaded with them to wake up. The air in the cave felt thin, and though his hands were shaking, Pixel could not move his arms. He could only stare blindly into space.

Lu-Lu, distressed by her friend's silence, scooted closer to his side. She brushed a fingertip against his ear, and the moss that tickled his face jolted him into the present. He looked up at the troll, feeling a wet tear slide down his face. He wiped it away with his sleeve and laid his soft human hand on Lu-Lu's stone one. She was stone, for sure. Stone and alive. Her wide face cracked a smile, and Pixel was able to grin in return.

"Thanks, Lu-lu. I'm glad you found me up here." He sniffled to clear his nose and opened the box of matches. Only one left. Probably should have planned that better.

"Oars..." She murmured. Pixel kneeled with the teapot in his lap and struck a match, carefully shielding the sudden orange flame from drafts with his hand. He lowered it delicately and lit the burnt candle wick. An explosion of sparks poured forth.

"I'll come see you again! As soon as I can!" Pixel yelled to the baby troll, then wrapped his arms tightly around the teapot and struggled to his feet. He hadn't even straightened fully when the vortex appeared around him, Lu-Lu and the cave vanishing in an instant. Blinding purple surrounded him. There was no way out.

"Sportacus?" Pixel cried, though he didn't know why. There was nobody around to hear him, especially not Sportacus. It was stupid being lost again. He wished the spell would just take him to the castle.

What do you wish? The vortex asked, breaking into swirls of gold.

"I wish I was at the Purple Knight's castle!" Pixel repeated out loud. He ducked his head against the light and lurched under the weight of the gold teapot in his arms, stumbling forward until something solid and dirty appeared beneath his feet. His torchlit shadow flickered on the pavement before him, and he looked up to see the towers of a crooked castle outlined against the night sky.

"Okay. Great." Pixel wasn't sure what he'd been talking to in the now absent vortex, but whatever it was had worked. And his arms felt lighter. He glanced down. The teapot had disappeared, leaving the candle with bright swirls of gold embedded in the wax. He turned the candle in his hands, wondering. That teapot had been more mysterious than it looked. He was imagining where it had vanished to when a strange hand grabbed his shoulder and another clamped roughly over his mouth.

He should really learn to stay on guard in enemy territory.

 

Robbie was woken by the tower door banging open and a flaming torch in his face.

"Evening, Sir Robert. You sad, foolish, pathetic liar." Sir Jean's mocking voice filled Robbie's ears as he was blinded by the sudden light. "You will never guess what I'm about to show you, never! Kit,"

The gold toothed servant stepped into view. His arms were behind his back, restraining the small figure who struggled behind him.

"Oh no." Robbie sucked in a breath as Kit released Stephanie. She stepped into the torchlight and froze at the sight of him.

"Oh yes. The girl saved me the trip to Lazytown by coming here herself. Reunited at last." Jean laughed. "I think we all see the dramatic irony here."

"What- what did you do to him?" Stephanie's voice rose in panic. Her wide eyes stared at Robbie in horror, and he remembered his bloodied face with a sudden ache.

"Nothing he can't recover from, yet." The Knight kneeled down by his prisoner and pulled Robbie's face further into the light.

"Robbie..." Stephanie lunged toward him but Kit quickly grasped her arm and pulled her back. She strained against him uselessly.

"Leave her... Jean, leave her alone!" Robbie growled hoarsely. "Damn it, she's your niece! Show some respect or I'll-"

"Yes, my niece. My eleven-year-old niece. The one who's age you lied about to keep me from claiming her, remember?"

"I lied, I lied, sure. But! You don't have any claim on her or any of her property either way."

"Is that what you think, or are you bluffing like always?" Sir Jean said disdainfully. "We both know the law, Robert. I happened to look into it very carefully."

"What law? What are you talking about?" Stephanie demanded angrily, squirming in the servants grip.

"So sorry, I didn't realize- you see, when an orphaned child such as yourself has more than one living relation, a decision must be made as to who will take charge of you. If you were thirteen years old, the choice would be yours. But as we now know, you are not, and therefore the law puts you in the care of the older relative."

"That is such a stupid rule." Robbie groaned.

"Of course it is. But it happens to be in my favor." Sir Jean smirked contentedly.

"Wait- uncle Milford is older than you. Isn't he?" Stephanie eyed the Knight's dark hair and relatively youthful skin. He didn't look very old. Robbie was shaking his head, his gaze directed at the floor.

"How flattering, but I really am more than I appear. I can prove that I'm older than my brother-in-law, and that effectively means that I am your true legal guardian." Sir Jean watched his statement sink in on Stephanie's face.

"But-" she scrambled for words. "But what about my parents, don't they have a say? They wouldn't leave me to you!"

"I'm afraid they have. Without witnesses or a written document putting you in Milford's care-"

"A document? What kind of document?"

"One you can't produce, because if you could, there would have been no need keep you hidden from me. You've been mine for six years without ever knowing. Better late than never, I suppose. Of course, this also makes me responsible for both Lazytown and your castle." He added the last like an afterthought, though it was clearly much more.

"But who's gonna enforce these laws anyway? I don't have to surrender to you just because you said so." Stephanie argued. "I'm not afraid to break some rules, you know."

Robbie looked up, feeling a painless kind of heat spread through his chest. Her attitude would have driven him furious a few weeks ago, but now he realized that being a tenacious brat was, in Stephanie's own way, surprisingly admirable. He felt... proud? Proud of her rebellion.

"I'll tell you what," Sir Jean began with ominous calm. "You break the rules, and I'll break Robbie."

Stephanie became very still.

"With the both of you here, I'm quite capable enforcing whatever law I see fit. With force, if you need me use it." Robbie was wrenched to his feet by the neck of his shirt and pushed against the wall. His legs felt completely numb, shaking beyond his control.

"Stephanie listen-" he was cut off by an armored knee hurtling into his stomach. Blackness dissolved his vision while Stephanie's scream pierced his ears.

"No!"

"This is what happens when you don't do as you're told, Stephanie." Jean dropped Robbie to the floor, where he crumpled like a discarded puppet. Sight was returning, and Robbie saw the princess's face was white as paper in the firelight. "People get hurt. You say you're not afraid? Then go on and tell me: why not?"

Robbie opened his mouth to speak up but couldn't muster a word, or a breath of air. He was empty.

"Why aren't you afraid." Jean advanced on Stephanie. She stuck her chin up, eyes darting to Robbie on the floor.

"Because I'm not alone."

The Knight sneered and opened his mouth to reply. Then he stopped, his eyes gleaming with a new thought.

"No- you're not alone, are you?" He reached for her neck and curled his fingers around the mask that hung there. She tried to pull back, but remained trapped in Kit's arms. Jean inspected the carvings in the red leather and met her eyes with a hungry grin.

"Where is he."

"Who?" Stephanie's voice wavered guiltily. Her uncle dropped the mask and seized her hand, pulling her away from the servant and toward the door. Robbie found his voice.

"Stephanie!" He choked desperately.

"Robbie?" Stephanie gripped the doorframe, resisting the Knight.

"Don't- don't be-" a cough filled his throat. Sir Robert was left hacking up his lungs as the princess was dragged away and the servant shut the heavy door. He shook in the lonely darkness once again, feeling like a buried corpse whose last words hadn't been precious enough.

Don't be good, Stephanie. Be a bad niece, be a bad princess. Be petulant and be unrelenting and be far too clever. Be better than I was.

Don't be the one to give Sportacus away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. 
> 
> ah pixel little do you know
> 
> also disclaimer:  
> Bullying is wrong, kids
> 
> I'm sad because there's no Sportacus in the next chapter, but someone will make a comeback
> 
> I̶'̶m̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶s̶o̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶R̶o̶b̶b̶i̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶


	23. Chapter 23

Purple twilight fell over Lazy Castle, and Ziggy wasn't ready to go to bed.

"Um, Mr. Lord Milford?" The boy scurried toward Stephanie's uncle, stumbling when the visor of his too-big helmet fell over his eyes once again. 

"Oh, be careful Sir Ziggy. You know you can take your armor off now. It's nighttime, not knight...time, well, you know what I mean." Milford lifted the helmet off of Ziggy's head.

"I can't go to bed!" Ziggy cried in distress. "I won't be able to sleep, a-and what if Sportacus needs me or Trixie or Pixel or Stephanie-"

"Your friend Sir Stingy is here, and he's going to bed as soon as he finished picking out a room and...gathering up all the pillows and...to be honest I'm not quite sure what he's doing. But the point is that you must go to bed. Sportacus said you settle down at eight minutes past sunset, and it's nearly that time now."

"I didn't get to be a knight for very long." Ziggy sighed. He let Milford help remove his small breastplate, which was actually a large pauldron.

"You're still a knight with your armor off, and when you sleep you're just a knight who's asleep." Milford explained. "As long as you're always ready to defend the castle, you're a knight."

"Oh! Is little Wiggy off to bed?" Lady Busybody crooned from the end of the hallway. She had swapped her hiking boots for some elegant shoes that clicked authoritatively across the stone floor. Ziggy smile wilted a little.

"Sir Ziggy and I were going to get a cup of cocoa before turning in. Have you come to join us, Lady Busybody?" Milford touched Ziggy's shoulder as a gesture of bedtime solidarity. Bessie shook her head and pulled the man aside, leaning close to whisper in his ear. Ziggy strained to catch a few words. He heard Sportacus's name.

"Um," Milford looked unsure as he turned back to the boy. "Ziggy. Why don't you go to the kitchen and help yourself to the cocoa. You know where your bedroom is, right? With the night lights?"

"I- I know." Ziggy frowned. What was going on? Was Sportacus in trouble? "Goodnight, Mr Lord Milford. Goodnight Lady Busybody."

"Goodnight, Ziggy."

Ziggy did not go to the kitchen, but instead raced off to find Stingy. He ran into his friend outside the library with a pillow under each arm.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Stingy criticized as Ziggy bounded up to him.

"Shouldn't you be?"

"I cannot go to bed until I find the right pillow, Ziggy. Obviously."

"Forget about that right now, there- there's something happening with- with Sportacus and-"

"Slow down. Is Sportacus and everybody okay? Why was I not notified of this."

"I don't know, Stephanie's uncle and the lady wouldn't tell me. They were whispering and wanted me to go away." Ziggy pouted. 

"Well," Stingy did the unthinkable and dropped the pillows to the floor. "It looks like we have to do a little... spy work."

"Reee conasins?" Ziggy said eagerly.

"Ex-actly."

 

The boys peeked over the stairwell at Milford and Bessie, who were speaking in hushed tones by the outside door. They were interrupted by sudden furious knocking. Milford hastily opened the door and a man stepped inside. 

"It's Jives!" Ziggy stage whispered. He started to move down the stairs to greet their friend, but Stingy pulled him back and shushed him. Jives looked distressed, and he was talking loudly though the boys couldn't make out what he was saying. They saw Milford attempt to calm him and gesture up the stairs.

"Uh-oh. Ziggy, we have to move." Stingy pushed Ziggy to the top of the stairs and together they fled into the nearest doorway. 

"I think they're coming in here." Ziggy said, peeping down the stairs. It was the only room on that level, and it was enormous- though practically empty except for a fancy chair on a platform and some decorative drapes and gold grates on the walls. 

"Ah! Quick, hide!"

Stingy ducked behind one of the drapes. Ziggy was about to follow when he noticed one of the fancy grates was a little too far to one side. Experimentally, he gave it a nudge and it slid away to reveal a crevice in the stone wall just big enough for him to fit through. He heard Bessie's shoes clicking louder outside the doorway, and quickly slipped into the mysterious hiding spot. He was inside when he realized his cape was caught in the grate. Quickly he tugged it free, causing the grate to slide shut. Now he was hidden, but also possibly trapped. Ziggy crouched in the shadows as the three adults entered the throne room.

"It wasn't bad news, was it?" Milford was asking Jives anxiously. Ziggy saw the old man shrug.

"It's just a bad situation. Real bad." Jives pulled at his beard anxiously. "I mean, there's a reason that Sportacus sent me a note with Skychaser instead of telling me to my face. I would have stopped him from going!"

"Why, if you don't mind me asking? Sportacus was taking precautions to ensure the Purple Knight wouldn't see him. He seemed willing to risk the danger."

"That's the thing though. He's not just endangering himself, he's putting your whole kingdom at risk! Look, I can't tell you the whole story, but trust me when I say there's a reason that Sportacus likes to stay on the down-low."

"The whole kingdom?" Bessie repeated. "So, he's risking all of Lazytown for Sir Robert. What kind of man would do that?"

"I've seen him be all kinds of man. But normally he's not stupid. Sportacus knew he shouldn't go to Rottington- so if he did, it's because his heart's on something and he can't resist." Jives tugged down the band of his hat and furrowed his brow. "Yo, this sounds weird but he probably thinks of Robbie as family."

"Because of Stephanie?"

"Yeah, because-" Ziggy saw Jives clasp his fingers together behind his back. "Never mind. He'd do this for anyone, honestly."

"A real hero, that man is." Bessie agreed. Jives smiled in a way that was almost sad.

"You have no idea."

"What should we do now?" Milford asked urgently. "You said the land was in danger! From what? From who?"

"I'll tell you as much as I can, but-" Jives paused and glanced around the room suspiciously. "First thing: where are the kids? Sportacus wrote that Stingy and Ziggy are watching the castle. They in bed already?"

"Yes, of course they are. It's past bedtime."

Jives tilted his head and gave a look to the wall.

"I can hear Stingy breathing behind that curtain, so he's not in bed."

Stingy's head poked out from the drapes. He wore a look of disgruntled disappointment.

"You were having conversations of an important nature- without us! Ah! The indignity!" He shook his head. "I guess you can come out now Ziggy, wherever you are. Ziggy?"

The younger boy had become distracted moments earlier when his cape had gotten stuck between some rocks in the back of the crevice. He tugged the cape sharply, dislodging a few small stones. A faint light showed through the gap behind them and Ziggy looked a little closer, fascinated. He crouched down and picked away more stones until the gap was wide enough to see through. It was wide enough to crawl through. A jagged tunnel continued ahead for a few yards, and then dropped into the unknown. The unknown was the source of the dim light.

Ziggy didn't know why or how he crawled through the tunnel and looked past the end. But when he did, he saw nothing but an open black abyss below him. There was no source of light, but the air seemed to glow. Indigo and violet. Blue and purple. Something was moving, and in the midst of empty space Ziggy suddenly knew he wasn't alone. The atmosphere shifted like a hot exhaled breath.

"Ziggy!" 

Ziggy slid aside the grate and tumbled out of the crevice. Stingy and the three adults blinked in surprise as he wobbled to his feet.

"Ziggy, what were you doing back there?" Milford gaped at the open grate.

"I- I was..." He struggled to put the sentence together. "I was hiding and then, um-"

Then he had heard his name and came out of the wall. Why did he feel so shaken? He couldn't remember. Maybe he really wasn't that brave after all.

"Ziggy's scared of the dark." Stingy said unhelpfully.

"I'm not! I mean, I am. B-but..." Ziggy didn't know what he was trying to say.

"It's alright." Milford interrupted the boy's nervous rambling. "You're not in any trouble. But next time you want to know something, just ask. I shouldn't have tried to keep anything from you, I'm sorry."

"I think we deserve to know what our friends have walked into." Stingy crossed his arms.

"You sure do." Jives sighed. "But I gotta respect Sportacus's decisions too, and there's things he doesn't want you to know."

"What kinds of things?"

"You might learn eventually, but it's not my place to say, you know?"

"But you're sure he's trustworthy." Bessie implored.

"Absolutely, yo. Sportacus will keep the kids safe no matter what, but he might not do the same for himself. That's the problem." Ziggy chewed his lip at Jives's words. Sportacus had to come back okay, he wouldn't leave him all alone, would he?

"Is there anything we can do?" Milford asked once again.

"Well, we could always just prepare for the worst." Jives shrugged.

"And what would that be?"

"Uh, how prepared are you for..." The gardener trailed off uncertainly.

"Prepared for what?" Bessie urged him. Jives grimaced.

"For war."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys are back, gonna do it again gonna wake up the neighborhoooood
> 
> But yeah Sportacus was bein' kind of a dummy going on this mission. not that anything could stop him
> 
> Speaking of that blue man I wonder what he's up to....would be nice to....find out huh....


	24. Chapter 24

"Let go of me!" Stephanie shrieked furiously. Her uncle met her demands by shoving her into a chair and slamming his metal boot between her knees, trapping her where she sat. He had brought her back to the courtyard, and Stephanie noticed armed guards positioned by all the surrounding exits. She glared up into Jean's shadowy face.

"I think we're going stay out here for little while and discuss your friend the Bandit, who I doubt is far away." He rested an arm on his knee and leaned down into her space. "You didn't make a two-day journey in a few hours all by yourself."

"Maybe I'm just that magically gifted." Stephanie challenged, crossing her arms over her chest. The crisp night air raised goosebumps along her skin.

"As if Sir Robert could pass on any ability worth mentioning." Jean snorted. "You had help, and I think I know from whom."

"You think?" 

"Tell me about the Blue Bandit." Jean pushed Stephanie back into the chair when she tried to stand, holding her with one arm. She scowled in retaliation.

"Why should I? Why do you wanna know?" Stalling. Stephanie was trying to come up with a plan for what to do if the other bandits came to help, and another plan in case they didn't. At the moment she wasn't sure which was worse.

"You should tell me because I'm your uncle, and I asked you."

"So- so what? You think I do whatever uncle Milford tells me to? And you can't threaten me. I know you're not going to hurt your own niece." Stephanie did not know that, and regretted saying it the second she saw Jean's smug look. 

"Your father said something like that, once." He said in a low whisper, close enough that she felt his breath on her face. "He was mistaken. However-!" 

He pulled away, to Stephanie's relief. 

"-As your guardian, it would be irresponsible of me to let you come to any harm. Besides, you're not going to make me go all the way back to the tower and do unspeakable things to poor Robbie, are you? Have some mercy, child. Tell me where the elf is."

Stephanie's sweaty hands gripped the seat of the chair. Robbie's life was in her hands, and there was no room for false moves- wait, what did he just say?

"The-" she cleared her throat. "The what?"

Jean growled impatiently.

"The elf! Tell me where he is."

"I don't, I don't know what you're talking about- I don't know about an elf!" Stephanie almost shouted. She didn't know where this was coming from, hadn't Jean been asking about Sportacus? What was 'the elf' all of a sudden?

"Don't play this game with me, Stephanie." The Knight warned her. 

"What the heck! I'm not lying to you!" She spat. "I said I don't know!"

"And I say you do."

Stephanie felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Stubbornly, she turned her head to blink them away.

"Look at me and answer the question!" Her uncle roared, grabbing her face and wrenching it back towards him. She cried out in protest and clawed at his hand, but he only squeezed her jaw more tightly. Stephanie gasped as the tears finally escaped her eyes. 

Through blurry vision, she witnessed Jean's menacing snarl twist into an expression of surprise when a figure in blue dropped down behind him and locked a strong arm around his neck, forcing him to release the girl. Stephanie fell back against the chair as Sportacus grappled with the Knight.

"Get off me, you-" Jean attempted to throw off his attacker, but Sportacus held him fast. "Get him, you idiots! Don't just stand there!"

The guards in the courtyard rushed to aid their master and Stephanie's stomach leaped in panic. Sportacus craned his head around, taking stock of the situation. His grip loosened around Sir Jean's neck, and the knight used the opportunity to seize the bandit's arm and throw him forward onto his back. Sportacus rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the knight's metal boot that came down to smash his chest. Stephanie sprang from the chair and rushed to his side as the guards closed in. 

"Robbie's in that tower!" She told him, pointing with one hand while pulling him to his feet. Sportacus glanced in the tower's direction before fixing his eyes on her face. His own face was streaked with coal under his sky-blue mask, and he looked almost spooky in the light of the torches overhead. 

"Let's move!" He shouted suddenly, dodging the nearest swinging spear and leading Stephanie away from the Knight. She ducked behind him hen he picked up the wooden chair, driving back a few guards with the legs before raising it over his head. "Ready Trixie? Go!!"

An arrow struck the back of the chair, trailing a length of thin rope from above. The guards turned in wonder to see Trixie on top of the outer wall, fixing the other end of the rope to the parapet.

"Now we do this." Sportacus told Stephanie. Dropping the chair back down, he scooped her up in his arms and jumped to stand on the seat. The rope was pulled taut under their weight. Stephanie saw Trixie zip-lining towards them on what looked like a pair of goggles. Her legs dangled over the heads of her enemies below, and she slid right into Sportacus's waiting arms. He wobbled as he shifted his balance on the chair, holding a girl on either hip.

"You know what to do- get out of here and find Pixel. I'll free Robbie and bring him when I meet up with you. Okay?"

"Yeah, and don't get taken out by one of these guys, right?" Trixie gestured to the guards who surrounded them. She kicked away a spear that got too close. 

"Right. Stephanie, stick to Trixie. Remember you have skills. Now go!" Sportacus dropped them to the ground and drew a knife from his belt, reaching up to cut the rope at a good length. Jumping off the seat, he twisted the frayed rope around his hand and forcefully swung the chair by the end like a ridiculous but effective flail, scattering the men caught in its arc. A path opened briefly through the pack and the girls charged through. Stephanie glanced behind as they made their escape from the courtyard, making sure that Sportacus was alright. He was. 

"Hello," The bandit grinned at the guards who struggled to their feet and hesitated, ready to rush him. "It looks like we have enough players for a sports team! Catch!"

He slung the chair into the closest group of men and bolted during the distraction. Weaving through the clumsy guards and leaping over heads he easily reached a wall and ran vertically to the top, diving through the legs of the guard who tried to stand in his way and springing up the nearest staircase. He didn't stop to fight once on his way to the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sportacus's preferred fighting method is nope.
> 
> This was plan b, the chair was plan c but its important to be flexible
> 
> Now things are surely going smoothly!


	25. Chapter 25

Trixie and Stephanie were fending off pursuit with a slingshot and whatever was on hand to throw.

"This way!" Trixie threw open a side door and pushed Stephanie through. They slammed the door shut behind them, throwing their weight against the wood to hold it closed as the guards in the hallway banged on the other side. Stephanie braced against the floor while she slid the bolt in place. The girls slumped in relief when the door held, and backed away to survey their new surroundings. 

"It looks like a kitchen." Stephanie said. There was dead fireplace built into a wall with a metal pot hanging over the ashes, and various jars, though most were broken. Plant matter and rubbish littered the shelves and single table. 

"Damn! I was hoping it was the armory or something. There's not even a window in here- I think we're trapped. I trapped us. In the kitchen." Trixie moved frantically around the small room, kicking the walls and rummaging the shelves. 

"At least we're safe for the moment." Stephanie reminded her. She pressed an ear to the door. "The guards stopped hitting the door. Sounds like they left."

A sudden crash against the wood threw her backwards. She fell to the floor with a shriek, a second crash hitting the door. 

"Okay they're back." She groaned as Trixie scrambled to her side. They heard the sound of wood beginning to splinter on the third hit, and the hinges shuddered weakly. Quickly, they dragged the table to barricade the door and began piling anything moveable on top of it.

"This isn't gonna work, Pinkie! I think we'll have to fight our way out of here." Trixie threw a stack of books against the door and unslung her bow. Stephanie had a revelation when she unhooked the heavy pot from the fireplace.

"Wait wait!" She beckoned Trixie over frantically. "Trixie, look! There's a fireplace- there's a chimney!"

"What's up there?" Trixie ducked into the fireplace and peered into the black chute above.

"Freedom, that's what! Hurry!" Stephanie started to wriggle up into the chimney, but Trixie stopped her.

"Are you sure about-" A sickeningly loud crash against the door cut her off. The barricade rattled. "Never mind let's go."

 

"Two, six, heave!" The guards once again thrust the wooden bench like a battering ran and the door broke loose from its hinges. Four men climbed over the remaining barricade, only to to find the room empty. 

"They're not here."

"Where did they go? There's no way out..."

Trixie and Stephanie were scooting up the chimney but halted, suddenly afraid that the soot they dislodged would give them away. 

"Look here in the fireplace," they heard a man say. "Footprints in the ashes. Where does this chimney go?"

The girls didn't stay to hear the reply. Their backs and feet sent down clouds of soot raining down on the guards as they scooted for their lives. Stephanie let out a small cry when her foot slipped and she nearly fell.

"Careful!" Trixie hissed, spitting out a mouthful of soot.

"Sorry! I think I see the end-" Stephanie squinted up at the speck of light above her. It was far, far away. Her body ached and her muscles were cramped. Soot filled her airways, and she regretted letting Trixie lock them in that room in the first place. "Hey, next time I'm taking the lead. We should have stayed in the open!"

"And gotten run down? Sure, if that's what you want."

"We're supposed to be looking for Pixel."

"Is he even here?"

"I don't know! But without him we don't have a way to esca- gah!"

Stephanie gasped as a lasso dropped from above and looped around her neck. Her hands grabbed for the rope above her head, trying to slacken its grip when it began to tug. She was pulled upward like a fish on a hook, her feet desperately scraping against the chimney walls.

"Stephanie! Hang on!" Trixie screamed from below.

"H-hang on? Seriously?" Stephanie gagged. Struggling against the lasso was no use, since she didn't feel like being strangled just then. She could only hold tight as she was dragged to the top the chimney. A familiar face greeted her at the other end of the rope. 

"Ugh, not you!" She spat at the gold-toothed servant. Kit flashed his horrible smile while he hooked one arm around her waist and hoisted her out of the chimney. They stood on level with the top of the drawbridge, and Stephanie thought she saw a flash of purple light down in the courtyard. Her heart raced. Kit hadn't noticed, too busy working the lasso off her neck and passing her over to two waiting guards. 

"Hold the princess," he said raspily, flexing the rope. "I'll get the other one."

"Come and get me, you stick goblin!" Trixie's voice reverberated from the chimney. A stone flew out and struck Kit in the teeth as he leaned to drop the rope into the shaft. 

"SON of A-" He clutched at his face. Stephanie wrenched away from the guards and took hold of the lasso. 

"Grab on Trixie, I'll pull you up!" 

"Way ahead of you." Trixie's sooty head popped out of the chimney. Stephanie reached for her hand and pulled the rest of her up. "Uh, behind you!"

"Behind me?" Stephanie barely avoided the guard who swiped at her, causing him to stumble forward and step into the shaft and fall on top of a just-recovered Kit. The remaining guard stretched out his arms to block the girls' escape. Stephanie grabbed Trixie's arm.

"I think Pixel's in the courtyard." She whispered, pointing to where she'd seen the glow. "We have to get down there." 

"Still got your throwing arm?" Trixie glanced at the lasso in her hand.

Kit pushed the other man off him and and scrambled to his feet, growling as he looked around wildly for the children. He spotted them in time to see the princess throwing his own lasso around a torch bracket.

"Stop them!" Kit lunged for the girls, but he was too late. They clung tightly to the rope and jumped together. Trixie waved cheekily as they swung down into the courtyard, dropping into an unfinished wooden cart which tipped over and dumped them on the ground. Stephanie rolled over on her back with a groan and sat up. 

"Ha! That was awesome!" Trixie crawled over and punched her on the shoulder. "Let's totally do it again sometime."

"Shhh," Stephanie whispered. "I think that's Pixel over there!"

"It is! Why is he just standing there like a dummy?"

"Let's go get him!"

They raced across the courtyard to where their friend was standing, deeply distracted by something. Trixie crept up behind him and clamped a hand over his mouth. Pixel let out a muffled shriek and began to struggle

"Trixie, let him go!" Stephanie pulled them apart. "It's us, Pixel. Good thing we found you- what happened? Why did we all get scattered?"

"I'll explain later, or I'll try to. It's a long story. Where's Sportacus?" Pixel showed them the candle in his hands. "This should get us home as long as we're outside the moat. Oh, I should check your masks. What are you covered in, is that coal? I think it's in my mouth..."

"No, it's blackberry jam." Trixie rolled her eyes and wiped her hands on her equally sooty shirt. Pixel had a black handprint on his face, and didn't seem to notice.

"Sportacus went to get Robbie, he's in one of the higher towers." Stephanie explained.

"We should wait for him outside the castle. That was the plan, right?"

"There's the doohickey to lower the drawbridge. Come on!"

The three children hurried over to the enormous winch by the entrance, but it wouldn't budge even when Trixie jumped on the wheel.

"Figure it out, Pixel!" She grunted, tugging fruitlessly at one of the spokes. 

"I'm trying, give me a second." Pixel quickly scanned the pulley system. The bridge was connected to the winch by a strong rope which was wound tight around the pivot cylinder. In theory, the spoked wheel would turn the pivot and loosen the rope, but how to move the wheel? The wheel would inhibited by the weight of the bridge when it was being raised so there must be a way of securing it. Pixel's eyes fell on a taut chain binding the wheel to the ground, and he crouched down to pry it free of its securing hook. The wheel jolted, and the three kids took hold of the spokes and heaved. With a groan, the drawbridge began to lower. Pixel pumped his fists in triumph.

"Oh, yes! We got it open!"

"Oh, no! The guards are coming back!" Stephanie cried. Pixel whirled around to see a group of armed men charging at them across the courtyard. The drawbridge was going down far too slowly.

"Quick, let's go up!" Trixie pushed Stephanie and pulled Pixel onto the tilting bridge, and they wobbled and crawled up the rough wooden surface. Stephanie was the first to scramble to the top. She peeked down into the dark empty trench far below as it grew steadily closer. Less than twenty feet from the ground, the bridge suddenly lurched to a stop.

"Aw, come on! Now what?" Trixie shrieked in frustration. 

"They- they're raising the drawbridge." Pixel gulped. "Guess I forgot they could do that. My bad."

The drawbridge lurched again and started moving back up. Stephanie slid down the vertically tilting surface, and the other two caught her before she tumbled to the bottom. Looking past her feet, she saw the guards were gathered at the foot of the bridge, waiting for them to fall.

"Uh, we're surrounded."

"Screw this." Trixie let go of Stephanie and unslung her bow, balancing her heels carefully against the bridge while notching the arrow.

"Trixie...you're going to shoot people?" Pixel said warily.

"Heh. Nope, much worse idea." She almost lost balance, but the other two held her legs steady while she drew the string, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew into the pulley rope and sheared off a few strands. Trixie quickly loaded another arrow and shot at the frayed section, slicing through the core of the rope. It split apart.

"Ah! Hang on!!" Trixie screamed as the drawbridge went into free fall. The kids were jolted through the air, Trixie thrown off balance. Pixel saw her go over the side.

"Trixie!" He and Stephanie scrambled across to where she'd fallen. The blackness of the moat rushed closer and before they could brace, the bridge hit the dirt with a mighty crash. The impact shook the boards beneath the children's hands and feet, sending them tumbling over the edge into the dark trench below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Into the moat is technically out of the castle
> 
> .
> 
> That was like a whole week with no update oops. I haven't had as much time to write these last two weeks so nothing has got done but i have a plan to get back on that horse soon...
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting as always! (get hyped for the next chapter i know i am)


	26. Chapter 26

Urgent running. Urgent climbing. Urgent dodging attackers. Sportacus felt so exhilarated by the challenge he almost forgot to feel anxious. He'd failed an important task- which was to not confront the Purple Knight- but there was no time to care. If he just focused on Robbie, on saving Robbie, he would be long gone before the Knight recognized him. If he just focused.

Guards rushed down the tower stairs, blocking his path. He flinched back from the points of their spears. There were more guards on his tail, probably intending to trap him on the stairs. Careful to stay out of reach, Sportacus stopped to draw a pair of knives from his pack. He brandished them at the approaching guards on either side of him, causing them to hesitate. When the bandit didn't make a move, they resumed their charge only for the two groups to clash together in the empty air. Sportacus was high above them, using the knife points to pick his way up the wall. He reached the top of the tower well ahead of his pursuers.

"Robbie? Robbie are you in there?" He banged on the single door. Pressing his ear against it, he could just make out the sound of a familiar groan. "Robbie!"

"Oh, please don't tell me," Came a muffled voice from the other side. "It's you, isn't it. Ugh, who else has that accent."

"It's me, Sportacus." Sportacus called through the door. "I've come to help you."

Robbie groaned again.

"Me? Why?! You need to get Stephanie out of here right now, idiot!"

"She's okay. We won't go without you, so better stand back."

"Do what now?"

"Stand back, I'm going break the door down."

"Ha! Sure. Because doing push-ups makes you able to punch iron hinges now."

"No," Sportacus ran his hand over the doorframe. "These hinges are made of lead."

Robbie shrieked in surprise when the door burst from the frame and crashed to the floor. Sportacus stood in the doorway with one foot raised, looking smug.

"Good god, what are you made of?" Robbie was pressed against the wall, panting fearfully. Sportacus's smirk faded at the sight of the mans bloodied face.

"You're hurt." He said, crossing the tower floor to for a closer look. Robbie rolled his eyes and turned his head away.

"What do you care. I brought this on myself, you didn't have to bring Stephanie into it. Why? Why is she here? Why are you here?" Robbie started to cough. He registered the sound of a chain breaking above him, and his freed arm fell to his side.

"We'll talk later. Right now we have to move. Up you go," Sportacus pulled Robbie's arm around his shoulder and hoisted him carefully to his feet. His knees buckled. "Whoah. Try to stand up, I'm sorry but I can't do anything for you until we're outside."

Robbie didn't understand a word the bandit was saying. His legs wobbled like jelly pudding and his feet were dead asleep. Leaning all his weight on the shorter man, they slowly made their way to the door. A dozen guards were gathered on the stairs, their spears pointed to block their descent.

"That's what I thought." Sportacus sighed to Robbie. "Here's where you just have to trust me."

"I don-" Robbie choked on his sentence when Sportacus spun him around and shoved him off the tower. He shrieked, dropping twice his height onto the winding stairs below the guards and nearly falling down the rest. Sportacus landed behind him, catching him in his arms.

"That went pretty good." The bandit grinned. Confusingly, Robbie wanted both to hug him and smack his face. He settled for fainting.

"Hey, hey wake up!" Sportacus shook him back to consciousness. "We are going to be killed!"

Robbie's eyes fluttered open to see the guards had gotten turned around and were charging down the stairs toward them. His jelly legs found the will to follow Sportacus's lead as they raced down the steps together. Sweat ran down his face and his heart pounded in fear and exhaustion. In baffling contrast, Sportacus seemed to be enjoying himself. He stopped suddenly and jumped to grasp an overhead torch bracket. Robbie passed under him and turned to watch anxiously as the bandit swung from one hand and kicked both feet into the closest guard. He sounded almost like he was laughing when the guard fell back, toppling the others behind him. Sportacus rejoined Robbie in an instant. They fled to the bottom of the stairs, which was by some miracle totally unguarded. Or so it seemed.

"This way." Sportacus led Robbie by the hand down a dark hallway. Robbie stumbled along behind him, the broken chain on his arm swinging in a way that made him anxious. Only too late did he realize that the metal clanking sound he heard wasn't the chain. They turned a sharp corner.

"Wha-" Sportacus yelped as the metal gauntlet seized his throat. The Purple Knight threw the bandit against the wall and pinned him there with an elbow on his neck.

"Stop squirming and I won't have to use this." Sir Jean raised a crooked dagger that gleamed in the dim torchlight, maneuvering it close to the face of the elf and causing him to struggle harder. Unsure what he was trying to accomplish, Robbie rushed to help. He received a kick from the Knight's metal boot that sent him sprawling.

"Leave him alone you-" Sportacus grunted before his head was smashed against the wall. Robbie shakily tried to raise himself from the floor. From the corner his eye he could see the guards rounding the corner, blocking their escape though not attacking. They were waiting, watching their leader push up the bandit's mask with the tip of his knife. Sportacus wrenched his face away.

"Robbie, you need to go- NOW!" He said, at which Sir Jean just laughed.

"Sir Robert isn't going anywhere, and neither are you, little- oof!" He doubled over. Sportacus had gotten his foot between them and delivered a hearty shove to the gut. He then broke the Knight's relaxed grip, diving over to Robbie on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Sportacus asked as he hauled him to his feet.

"No!"

"Right, right." Sportacus pulled Robbie behind his back, planting himself between the tall man and his enemies.

"Oh, please. There's nowhere to run," Sneered Jean, regaining his former control. "Who needs to get hurt before you surrender yourself like the good little elf you are?"

"I am not who you think I am." Sportacus said in a low, frigid voice that Robbie hadn't heard before. It felt like the sting of wind on his skin, probably due to the drafty hallway.

"We'll see about that." Jean motioned the guards forward, his sharp eyes trained on the bandit's exposed face. Sportacus felt behind him until his hand found Robbie's.

"No we won't. Bye." They were off again, running so fast that if not for the considerable length of Robbie's legs his lower body might have been left behind, the rest dragged along only by Sportacus's death grip on his hand. The din of clanking footsteps bit at their heels. Torches became fewer and fewer until they were moving blind in an unlit part of the castle. Sportacus threw a hand in front of him to feel his way, immediately meeting a solid wall.

"We're trapped?" He let go of Robbie, who collapsed, gasping for breath on the floor while Sportacus ran his hands over the wall. "There's no exit here, we have to go- oh no! I'm sorry, Robbie. You're injured, you must be hurting badly."

"What... is wrong with you?" Robbie wheezed.

"Hm?"

"What is WRONG with YOU." He weakly slapped away the hand that touched his shoulder.

"Robbie..."

"No, no no. We're about to die here so I want some answers. Did Stephanie make you come for me? She shouldn't be here, and neither should you! Why-"

"I said we would talk later."

"There IS no later! This is a dead end, Sporta-in-denial, and we are dead... oh wait there's a door here." The distinct shape of a latch pressed against Robbie's back when he leaned against the wall. He could feel Sportacus's breath on his neck as he fumbled with the latch in the dark, and a hand stopped Robbie's arm before he tugged open the door.

"Listen," Sportacus whispered.

"No, you're right. We'll survive now talk later." Robbie pulled on the door.

"I mean listen to the... they stopped following us."

Robbie paused and cocked an ear. The hallway was silent.

"Well that's a relief, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure..." Hearing Sportacus sound doubtful didn't bode well, but Robbie was determined not to stay in the dark.

"Can't stick around and get caught now." He shrugged, and tried pushing with his shoulder. It swung open, pouring a blaze of sudden light into his deprived eyes. Robbie stumbled half-blind out of the hallway and into a different trap: the waiting arms of the Purple Knight. There was a flash of metal as the edge of the crooked dagger went straight for his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of one frying pan into another frying pan
> 
> I havent been on here very much but I'm here now. lets party...
> 
> ...party like it's the end


	27. Chapter 27

The first sensation that Pixel became aware of was wet and smelly. He instinctively turned his head away from the source, flinching. Something dripped onto his cheek, followed by a lick from a rough tongue. Pixel opened his eyes enough to squint. A black wolf snout loomed in his blurry vision.

He gasped, scrambling to sit up in the dirt. Dark as it was, the wolf's yellow eyes shone with an unnatural glow that illuminated the trench enough for him to see the girls staggering towards him. They appeared to be waving, but making no sound. He waved back cautiously. The wolf pawed at the ground, and Pixel glanced at the dirt to see his hearing aids glinting in the light from the creature's eyes. They must had fallen off his ears when he'd fallen off the bridge.  
His heart skipped a beat. They had fallen. Off the drawbridge.

"Pixel, don't move!" Stephanie warned him when he had put the gizmos back on his ears.

"Why not?"

"Uh, because of the wolf?" Trixie gestured to the animal, which was sitting on its haunches, tail twitching side to side. Pixel met into the wolf's glowing eyes. It cocked its head.

"It's... just Stingy." He said slowly. Stingy wagged his tail, happy to be recognized.

"Stingy!?" Stephanie's mouth fell open. "That's Stingy?"

"What's he doing here?" Trixie demanded to know, while keeping her distance. Wolf Stingy settled to the ground with a whine.

 

_"Stingy? Are you awake?"_

_Stingy grumbled. As if he could sleep with Ziggy wiggling all over the bed, even if his mind let had him rest. He was wide awake with worry and it seemed that Ziggy was equally anxious._

_"Yes, unfortunately. I would never have agreed to share a bed with you if I knew you would occupy such an excessive amount of space."_

_"But you took all the covers."_

_"This is my blanket, why don't you get your own?" Stingy had snapped. Ziggy went silent, and before Stingy could make amends the boy had slipped off the bed and left the bedroom. Wrapping his blanket around himself hastily, Stingy had followed him._

_"Ziggy, go back to bed. I'll share the blanket." He'd whispered after catching up in a different room. "I thought you were scared of the dark?"_

_The room was a small storage space, almost a closet and completely unlit. Yet Ziggy had found what he came for._

_"I saw a blanket here earlier- oh! Oh, here it is, see?" He'd slid the covering off the back of a chair and shook it out. "Wait, this isn't a blanket. It's- isn't this- that thing?"_

_"What thing?"_

_"It is! It's the wolf pelt that Robbie had and then you put it on and went crazy-"_

_"I did not 'go crazy'," Stingy had scoffed. "I... I felt different. You would too if you suddenly had twice as many legs and a tail."_

_"You were kinda scary." Ziggy shuddered. "And really fast."_

_Ziggy had paused, biting his lip pensively. He stared at the pelt in his hands._

_"Well, since that is now in the past, you don't have to worry about it." Stingy pulled the covers tighter around his shoulders and turned to go back to bed. "And in case you didn't know, that pelt is mine."_

_"Wait, wait!" Ziggy had tugged on the blanket and Stingy jerked around, annoyed. He'd seen tears in the younger boy's eyes. "I'm worried about Sportacus! I-I'm worried about everyone, and you could..."_

_"I could what?"_

_Ziggy held up the pelt._

_"Oh no." Stingy had tutted, shaking a finger. "No, no, this isn't that kind of emergency just yet."_

_"Then what is!? You heard what Jives said, we're all in danger! You can reach them with your mask. Please go help them, please? Please?"_

_Stingy had dropped the blanket and taken the wolf pelt from Ziggy. He ran a thumb through the black fur._

_"This is never going to work." He'd sighed._

 

"Well, if he's here to help us out, he's too late." Trixie shook a stream of dirt out of her quiver and strapped it over her shoulder. "We got out of the castle okay."

"Um, we're stuck in the moat." Stephanie pointed out.

"You don't know we're stuck."

"Wait, how is the wolf pelt working inside the moat?" Pixel wondered aloud. "It's magical, and this circle is a barrier against magic."

"Maybe since we're in the trench, Stingy's like, half in-half out. He doesn't look... feral like before." Stephanie offered.

"Yeah Stingy, how come you don't have wolf brain?" Said Trixie. Stingy sniffed and wandered a few feet away to dig in the dirt. "Maybe you do have wolf brain."

"The candle!" Pixel cried as Stingy unearthed the precious object. He pulled it out of the soft ground and inspected the remaining wick.

"Is it gonna work this time?" Stephanie asked. Pixel frowned.

"It should, well, it's weird but- nah I'll tell you later. I think we should get out of the trench just to be safe. We don't want half in-half out with our escape."

"It's not that deep, let's just climb up the side." Trixie marched over to the wall of the moat and planted her foot against the loose dirt, only to slip to the bottom on the first step. "Okay it's harder than it looks."

The drumming of footsteps on the drawbridge brought their attention upward. Lantern light swayed over them, and they could see the guards pitching a ladder over the side of the bridge into the trench.

"Uh, we should run." Pixel quickly shoved the candle into his pack.

"Again?" Trixie groaned.

"Where to? We're stuck in here!" Stephanie said in panic. Stingy gave a yip and ambled away into the dark, only visible by the light from his glowing eyes. The others picked up their feet and ran after him. The floor of the moat was scattered with debris, including what Pixel wished he didn't recognize as bones as they cracked underfoot. The guards could be heard making their way down the trench just behind them. On and on they went until Stingy suddenly stopped and looped back around to run the other way.

"Stingy!" Pixel gasped, stopping to clutch his aching side. "What are you doing?"

Stingy turned his snout toward a pile of rotten boards leaning against the trench wall. Voices from further down prompted the kids to conceal themselves in the small shadowy space behind the boards, except for Stingy, who sauntered into the open. From their hiding place, the kids held their breath as they watched him crouch and growl at the approaching enemies. The guards halted when the wolf entered their pool of lantern light. He snarled, snapping at a few startled guards, then turning to flee down the moat. The soldiers looked at each other.

"Did that thing... eat the kids?" One of them asked.

"Follow it." Commanded another.

Pixel, Stephanie and Trixie pressed together in their hiding space while the guards continued past them. Only when the light of their lanterns had passed did they dare to crawl out from behind the boards.

"What was the point of that?" Trixie said, bending to stretch out her cramped back.

"He got them off our tail." Stephanie stared down the dark path.

"And onto his."

"Guys, this way." Pixel beckoned them back the way they had come. "The guards left their ladder on the drawbridge, we can use it to get out of the moat."

The ladder was heavy, but the three of them were able to move it from the center of the moat to the outside edge. With a push, it fell against the side, creating a perfect route of escape. Pixel was the first to climb to the top, followed by Stephanie and then Trixie.

"Hey, if we pull this thing up, the guards will be stuck down there." Trixie suggested. She nudged the ladder with her foot, but Pixel stopped her.

"Stingy's still down there."

"Where is he?" Stephanie searched the moat below in vain. Then, a prick of yellow light appeared in the distance. Stingy came running into view, his canine gait a little slower than before. He had run around the entire castle. The kids could hear him panting heavily as he neared the drawbridge.

"Stingy! Up here!" Pixel waved, leaning over the trench. Stingy yipped in reply and headed for the ladder. Just then, the guards came back into view from the opposite direction, evidently having given up trying to outrun the wolf.

"Hurry, Stingy!" Pixel crouched and grabbed the top of the ladder. "Help me pull it up when he's on."

The girls each took hold of the ladder and tensed in preparation as the Stingy reached the bottom and tiredly hopped onto the first few rungs. His paws had scarcely left the ground when the others began to pull the ladder up, and he wagged his tail in anticipation.

"Almost there!" They strained and pulled, dragging the ladder up out of the trench and onto level ground. The wolf was nearly to the top when a hand caught his tail, pulling him off balance. The ladder left the moat without Stingy. He cried out as the wolf pelt slipped off his body.

"Stingy!" The other kids dropped the ladder and rushed to the edge. Below them was gathered the group of guards, the wolf pelt in ones bewildered hands. Another set of hands of clutched at the dirt edge of the moat in a white-knuckled grip.

"Help! Someone help me up!" Stingy's voice rose from where he hung into the trench.

"Alright! You made it!" Pixel gave him a tight hug after they pulled him out. Stingy squeezed him briefly in return, trying to conceal his smile.

"I am EXHAUSTED. Can't we go home now?" He sighed.

"No, dummy," Trixie jabbed him in the arm. "We came here to rescue Robbie. Sportacus is in there getting him right now."

She pointed across the empty drawbridge. The four kids stood staring into the courtyard just beyond, but no movement appeared, no sound.

"So where is he?"

"I don't know, we just gotta wait."

"Why aren't any more guards coming after us? I mean, we're right here in the open outside the castle." Stephanie said with a shrug.

"Geez, Pinky, don't jinx it!" Snapped Trixie. They all held their breath, but there were no soldiers around except the ones stuck in the moat.

"Weird." Pixel remarked as he finished adjusting Stephanie's mask and gave it back to her. "Where did they all go?"

"Who cares?" Stingy said nervously. He shivered a bit, wearing only his pajamas against the night chill.

"Oh." Stephanie's grave tone turned all eyes to her. She stood staring at the castle through her mask.

"What is it? What's 'oh'?" Trixie pestered.

"All the guards-" she gestured across the moat with her hands. "-They're in the castle."

"With Sportacus and Robbie." Pixel realized. Stephanie nodded anxiously.

"I... I don't think they're coming."

Scarcely a second later the four kids heard a loud wail burst from within the castle walls, and their blood ran cold as they recognized the sound.

"Sportacus?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scent and a sound  
> I'm lost and I'm found  
> And I'm hungry like the wooooolf
> 
> Wolf Stingy was always gonna make a comeback aaand overall, could have gone a LOT WORSE right. good thing it didn't eh
> 
>  
> 
> Can't find a suitably dramatic way to end a chapter? try Ominous Scream™ for only $9.99 call now for a free sample (no guarantees apply)


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of blood that is all

Sportacus shielded his eyes as he stepped outside into the torchlight. Behind him the hallway door swung closed, cutting off his last means of escape from the guards who now surrounded him. He dropped his hand to face the Purple Knight.

"Sportacus!" Robbie gasped. The Knight held Robbie in the crook of his arm, the evil-looking dagger pressed to his neck. Sportacus clenched his fists as a satisfied smile spread over Sir Jean's face.

"So it really is you, then. Sportacus... that was the name, wasn't it? " He suddenly threw back his head and laughed, causing Robbie to flinch as the dagger scraped his skin.

"Let Robbie go, Knight." Sportacus said cautiously. Jean rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Please, your time playing hero is over. Give it up." He shoved Robbie into the hands of two guards and stepped closer to the bandit, his gaze wandering over the elf from head to foot. "You've grown quite a bit since our last meeting. Whatever you've been doing to your body is quite impressive, just look at those muscles! And I do like the mustache- tell me, is it real?"

Sportacus gave Jean a fierce glare before breaking away to meet Robbie's eyes.

"Told you people ask." He shrugged, and slapped Jean's reaching hand away from his face. The Knight caught hold of his wrist and bent the bandit's hand back until he gritted his teeth in pain.

"I wonder if you're even valuable anymore," Jean leaned in to whisper gloatingly in his ear. "Though he certainly hasn't forgotten about you. If he still wants you at all I would gain such enormous favor in exchange for your return, but if not... well, I'm sure I can find some use for whatever's left of you."

"What's he whispering?" Robbie croaked. He struggled feebly against the guards who held him. Jean dropped Sportacus's hand and whirled on his other captive.

"Ah, Sir Robert. You have no idea what's happening outside your tiny, lazy little town. Do you know who that elf belongs to? If I were you, I'd stay far away from-" Sir Jean's sentence was cut short when Sportacus moved suddenly, knocking the dagger out of his hand. He caught it as it fell and leapt onto the knight's back to hold the blade at his throat.

"You are talking way too much." Sportacus growled. "So I will say it again: Let. Robbie. Go."

"Let _me_ go, you damn imp!" Hissed Jean as he tried in vain to pry the bandit's arms off his neck. He stilled when the blade of his own knife pricked his face.

"You don't know me, and you don't know what I've done," Sportacus whispered beside his ear. "Or what I'm willing to do when I'm desperate. I am very close to being desperate."

Sir Jean eyed the numerous armed guards that surrounded them. None of them made a move, only watching tensely as they waited for his command. The dagger dug a little deeper into his skin.

"Let him go." The Purple Knight barked at length. The soldiers hesitated, then dropped a surprised Robbie to the floor. He scooted away on his knees, and when no one made an attempt to stop him, got shakily to his feet. His legs wobbled and he looked to Sportacus uncertainly. The elf watched him limp through the guards who parted to let him pass, keeping his hold on the knight until Robbie was clear of all the soldiers.

"Whatever you're trying to accomplish by freeing Sir Robert isn't worth your limited time, little elf." Sir Jean sneered. "He's no use to anyone. Well, I suppose that's not true, without his help I never would have gotten my hands on you or Stephanie. I think Robbie may have singlehandedly doomed all of Lazytown- and yet you trade your life for his?"

Sportacus saw the retreating Robbie freeze in his tracks without turning around. The question was desultory, irrelevant. Sir Robert's life was worth saving, as all lives were to Sportacus. But an offense crept into his mind at the notion that Robbie could deserve less because of his mistakes. It was an offensive idea, with an irritating sting of truth. If Sportacus hadn't been who he was- would he have thought twice before risking so much for a man who he'd only known as an adversary? How much did he really know about Robbie? Enough to know there was more. Enough to stake his life on.

"Any day." The bandit replied. "But not necessarily this day."

He swung his leg up to climb atop the Knights' shoulders and flung the dagger in Robbie's direction before leaping into the air, sending Sir Jean sprawling on his back. Sportacus executed a powerful mid air flip over the heads of the guards and landed lightly beside Robbie, the dagger falling into his open palm. The other man gaped but Sportacus wasted no time. Their path was clear ahead, a set of stairs that led towards the outer wall. Safety awaited just beyond those stairs. Sportacus charged up them, towing Robbie's hand in his unbreakable grip. He let go to jump the top few steps and dashed to the wall. Leaning over the parapet, he could see the long straight drop into the moat below fade into darkness. Robbie fell against the wall beside him, panting.

"We have to climb down." Sportacus pointed outside the wall. Robbie peeked over the edge and his legs gave way beneath him. He crumpled to the ground with his back against the wall.

"This," he cleared his throat. "This is not a good day."

"Well, it's not a good day to not die. Come on, I'll help you." Sportacus gently took the other mans' arm and pulled him to his feet. Robbie's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Spo- behind you!"

Sportacus had no time to look before an arrow flew past him, slicing his upper arm. He cried out in shock, grabbing the wound while turning to face the stairs. There was the Purple Knight and his guards. In his hands was a loaded crossbow aimed directly at the bandit. Robbie's hands were up in cautious surrender. Sportacus froze.

"Leaving so soon?" Jean smirked. "You've chosen quite an exit, though if you really wish to die tonight I can offer you a quicker experience."

"He's lying, he won't kill me." Sportacus said to Robbie, nudging him toward the wall.

"Won't I?" Sir Jean stepped further up the stairs, crossbow still trained on Sportacus. "A dead bird in the hand is worth one fluttering about in the woods causing trouble. You think I'm about to let you slip through my fingers again?"

"I think I'll push my luck." The bandit put a hand on top of the wall and glanced over the side. His gaze drifted to Robbie. The tall man's face was twitching anxiously, but he stood his ground with a grim resolve. Watching him made Sportacus suddenly feel very vulnerable.

"I don't believe in luck." The Knight said, and released the arrow. Sportacus's senses registered the bowstring snapping, his own missed heartbeat, Robbie's presence shifting beside him, and then the dull thud of an arrow sinking into flesh. His hand reached for the wound and a spray of warm blood ran over his trembling fingers. Human. Human blood.

"Oh... no. No." Sportacus stammered as Robbie stared blankly down at the shaft that pierced his chest. His eyelids fluttered and he keeled over into the elf's arms. Sportacus sank to the ground, trying to cradle the wounded man whose breaths were already turning into shallow gasps for air. He felt his own pulse hammering like a hailstorm as dark red seeped into Robbie's purple tunic. Robbie was slipping, everything was slipping.

He'd failed.

Stephanie's face from early that day flashed before his eyes, full of horror at the news that Robbie was in trouble. Her determination to save him. The bandit promising to help her. He'd failed her.

Robbie's face leaned in his hands, drenched in sweat and barely moving. He'd had so little time to appreciate that face or get to know the man behind it, and what Sportacus discovered in that moment was that he truly, deeply wanted to know Robbie. What made him so protective and awkward, so blustery and magical? How were his harshest actions pillow-soft? What did his tenderness look like?

Sportacus's panic was joined by a premature heartache as he mourned the things he'd never know. It was selfish and he knew it. Robbie's life was precious, and it didn't belong to him.

"What a pity," Jean's voice startled the elf out of his momentary trance. The Knight advanced on him, crossbow loaded once again. "That arrow was meant for you, circus freak. Poor Sir Robert, he wasn't a strong man, but a wonderful singer in his day. Shameful waste of talent. Oh well,"

Sir Jean stopped a few feet away and aimed the bow at the bandit's head. Sportacus stayed kneeling, fixated on Robbie's dark eyelids. Then the Knight's words sank in, and he realized two things.

He wanted to hear Robbie sing, and he could save him.

A rainbow of piercing light burst from beneath the elf's shirt, causing Jean to stagger back, eyes blinded. Sportacus's crystal surpassed it's usual cry and raised a wail that echoed across the castle walls and shook the soot off every surface. The guards fell to the ground, their hands clutching at their vibrating helmets. Sportacus stood slowly, lifting Robbie in his arms as easily as a bouquet of roses. A ripple of blue lightning crackled over their bodies. The elf leapt on top of the wall, leaving a ghostly trail of light in his wake as he stepped over the edge and plummeted into darkness. The crystal ceased wailing and silence fell.

Sportacus saw everything and nothing all at once. Anything that could be sensed filtered through his senses and drained away, leaving behind a focus so pure that nothing could stand in his way. Physical laws stepped aside to let him reach his goal. He was reeled through an upside down world, and when it righted again there were children before him. They shimmered and mouthed words to him, and he understood without hearing. Robbie's mask was in his hand. Purple. On Robbie's face. A candle sparkled to life. Hands touched his body. Small and many. He had to move forward into the vortex. Purple.

The edges of Sportacus's vision opened inside the vortex, and in the presence of real light he could see a forest opening before him. The children clung to him as they stepped onto the soft earth of the Lazy Woods. A sob pierced the night air. Sportacus felt the blood running down his arm and saw it on the hands of the children. Red.

Clutching Robbie's leaden body against him tightly, he ran and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not good at words this late at night so hear me out
> 
> It ain't over
> 
> It's never over until we do the bing bang dance anyway
> 
> So anyway Sportacus and Jean have a mutual acquaintance and you prooobably will not guess who. but. a related mystery was actually p much confirmed. in this chapter. maybe its obvious maybe not I don't really know
> 
> oh well onward we march


	29. Chapter 29

"You're so clumsy, Robbie. I think your body naturally wants to get hurt."

"Well, I'm not denying that. What's your excuse then, getting injured every other week?" Robbie said accusingly. "Does your body just long for death?"

Martha shrugged, though the sling on her arm made it somewhat difficult.

"My body wants adventure." She explained. "It's nice to sit and listen to the music for a while, but eventually you have to get up and dance."

"Oh no, not for me. I want no part of this dance."

"Shut up, you're a great dancer."

"Only when there's _rules_ to it."

"Rules, Robbie? You want to talk about rules when you cheat at chess-"

"It's not cheating when we both do it."

"-Thought I'd raised you better than that." Martha scowled. Robbie pretended to poke her injured arm. "So we're both clumsy cheaters. I'm sorry for dragging you into my messes. Why do you stick with me through such trouble? The world seems to always take it out on you."

"Mostly it's my own damn fault." Murmured Robbie, laying his head back. "I'm not much of an adventurer. Not much of a wizard, or a performer either. And what kind of knight am I that his queen always has to save his skin? Not that I'm complaining, you do wonderful work."

"Always happy to. But I didn't save you this time. Robbie, I'm sorry, but you're dying." Said Martha regretfully.

"I'm...what?" Robbie tried to sit up, but there was something on his chest pinning him down. Not on his chest. In it.

"Don't lose hope. You're out of my hands, but I have a good feeling about the ones you're in. Be strong, okay? You have to take care of my daughter." Martha's face blurred behind the shaft of the arrow that came into focus. "Take a deep breath."

"Mar-" Robbie tried to scream but his mouth filled with cold water. He spat and struggled in Sportacus's arms, resisting as he was lowered into the river that rushed around them. Moonlight glittered off the water. By its light he caught a look at his wound, a black spot of searing pain. An inky cloud flowed into the water. The river would seep away his life if he stayed, but where was the bank? Arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him back into the water as he tried to escape. It was Sportacus, he realized as his head tipped back against a familiar chest. Damn elf was trying to drown him! He probably had it coming, hadn't exactly made the best-

A wave of nausea rocked his vision as the arrow slid out of his flesh. Dizzy and mute, he was unable to scream appropriately at the sensation that flashed through his body. The elf tightened his grip while wrenching the pointed tip free of Robbie's bleeding chest. He thrashed weakly in the water. Spots of light exploded in his vision, and it took him a few seconds to realize that they were really there. The water around him glittered with something that wasn't moonlight. As his chest throbbed and eyesight faded, a kind of prickly warmth settled over him. Sportacus's hold tightened as he squirmed against the magic. The world flashed blue, then black, then blindingly hot.

Then pink.

Robbie felt a small hand press into his palm, and he squeezed it like a lifeline. No longer could he feel the rushing water, or his gaping wound, or the spell of the man holding him. Gradually all sensation drained away but Stephanie's hand gripping his trembling fingers. Exhaustion took over, and Robbie fell instantly into a deep sleep. He dreamed of nothing.

 

Black skies were yielding to the pink promise of sunrise, and Sportacus was finally alone. The night had been long. He had healed Robbie's wound as well as he was able, and then checked each of kids who were thankfully uninjured. Emotional healing was always a different story. He would begin on that once they had woken. All the young bandits had reached the campsite and collapsed on the grass under the treehouse, except for Stephanie whom he'd left sitting at Robbie's side as he twitched and snored fitfully on the blankets piled beneath him. She still hadn't let go of his hand. Skychaser was delivering a message to Milford at the castle and no doubt Jives would be there to receive it. Sportacus felt guilty for the panic he'd probably caused his friend, and for breaking his trust in going to Rottington without telling him. In any case, he had plenty to tell Jives now. He heard the older man's light footsteps approaching shortly before nearly shoved off the rock he sat on. Jives clapped his hands onto Sportacus's shoulders and stared into his face with wild eyes.

"You." He managed to say. "Tell me you're okay."

"I'm okay."

"No you're not." Jives tried to brush away some of the soot on the other man's face. "You're all wet."

"Robbie...got hurt. I had to use the energy in the river to save him." Sportacus let his eyes drift close briefly.

"Yo, that must've been exhausting. Have you eaten anything? You haven't, don't lie to me."

Sportacus shook his head.

"I can't eat right now."

"You have to. Lemme get you-"

The bushes rustled and Ziggy shot over to Sportacus, diving onto his lap and trapping him in a vise-like hug.

"Sportacus! Sportacus! You're back!"

"Of course I'm back, Ziggy. I can't leave you for long. I would miss you too much." Sportacus said, stroking the boy's hair fondly as they hugged. Ziggy's face burrowed into his damp shirt.

"I missed you. I-I was kinda scared that you were gonna get hurt..."

"Why would you say that?" Sportacus glanced at Jives, who looked away. "Ziggy, I'm sorry I scared you. We can talk about it if you want."

"I'm okay now." Ziggy pulled away to meet his eyes with a small smile.

"Good!"

"Sportacus!"

Stephanie's desperate yell echoed from the campsite. Sportacus was on his feet in an instant, Ziggy still in his arms while he raced toward her voice. Everyone was up and gathered in the clearing, including Milford and Bessie. Everyone but one. Stephanie caught his attention and pointed urgently to an empty pile of blankets under the apple tree.

"Robbie's gone! I couldn't stop him!" She explained. "He woke up, and he didn't say anything and tried to stand up all of a sudden. Then he couldn't, so he snapped his fingers and- I don't, I don't know where he disappeared to. We have to find him before he hurts himself worse!"

Sportacus jumped as his crystal came to life with its usual burst of shrill noise. Everyone looked to him with bated breath.

"I know where he is." Sportacus swished his arms and dashed away into the woods. Stephanie stared after him, clutching her stomach. Milford rushed to her side and she turned her head to bury her face in her uncle's shoulder. He held tight as her rigid body collapsed in his arms, sobbing without tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a heroes work is never done
> 
> Robbie is a pain magnet
> 
> Stephanie deserves a hug
> 
>  
> 
> Now that comic con is over and im heading back to school in a week or two I have time to get back to the important things in life: fanfiction! and not a moment too soon! And I lost my tablet pen :( oh dear


	30. Chapter 30

Well, he clearly wasn't going anywhere. 

Robbie hadn't felt the wound at all when he opened his eyes under the bandit's apple tree. Stephanie was there, holding his hand as she had in the river. The sight of her had turned his blood to ice. Her clothes were still wet, her face and arms streaked with soot, dirt and blood. There was a bruise of her forearm and another on her neck. The hand in his was scraped and raw. By the time he met her swollen red eyes, the ice in his chest had grown until he could feel the cold needles piercing through his skin. 

He'd wrenched his hand away, tried and failed to stand. Snapped his fingers though he knew his magic was dangerously weak. It took him anyway, dropping him at some unknown edge of the forest. He struggled to crawl through the tall prickly grass before giving up and laying like dead thing. His chest ached and throbbed, maybe due to aggravating his wound, but maybe it was the cold self loathing that stung so badly. Unable to move, Robbie had nothing better to do than lay face down in the grass and feel his pain until it consumed him.

"Are you still alive?"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" He mumbled in reply to the voice. "Ghost that you are. Could you haunt me if I was dead, Martha? Whatever, you would do it anyway."

"What did did you say?" The voice sounded confused. And foreign. Robbie's eyes snapped open and he jerked upright, instantly regretting the movement as he blacked out. The next thing he knew was the elf's hands gently turning him onto his back and easing his shirt open. Robbie was too dizzy to object. He stared at the pink and blue sky above him as Sportacus ran his fingers over the arrow's red mark. The throbbing was replaced by a prickling feeling like before as healing magic began to glitter over his body, and Robbie shut his eyes to relax through it. Gradually the prickling subsided, taking the pain with it. Sportacus was trailing his fingers in jagged patterns across his skin. Robbie had to admit that it felt soothing, and strangely the soreness in his bones and muscles was fading. He sighed and let his eyelids flutter apart in time to see the elf had his head lowered to Robbie's chest-and felt his lips press directly to the arrow wound. Robbie stiffened, his eyes going wide from surprise. The kiss didn't hurt, the tickle of Sportacus's mustache against his skin was an odd feeling and the gesture itself...

"What do you think you're doing?"

Sportacus looked up. His lips were stretched in a kind smile.

"Just finishing up some healing for you. How do you feel now? Can you sit up?"

Robbie scrambled into a sitting position and scooted away from the other man to face him, following his gaze to his own chest. The mark there was no longer red, but pinkish and smaller.

"It feels, I feel..." Robbie touched the scar. It didn't hurt.

"That scar is likely to stay, I'm sorry." Sportacus sighed. Robbie scowled at him.

"Don't apologize to me, you stupid- just stop." He growled. "You and I are having that talk. Now."

"What talk?" Sportacus looked at him blankly.

"That 'We'll talk later when we're not being stabbed and shot' talk you promised twice last night, remember?"

"Last night is kind of blurry for me. A lot was happening." 

"I know, Sportacus, I was there. But why were you there?" Robbie watched the man drop his gaze to the grass beneath him, picking at the blades absently.

"I was there to save you. You needed- Stephanie needed my help. She went to negotiate with the Purple Knight to give me a chance to-"

"I don't care about how! I care why! Why would you save me? I've been chasing you, causing you trouble since I knew you existed- and hurting you! I'm your villain, remember? You're not supposed to be my hero, Sporta-chivalrous. You're supposed to despise me!"

"Robbie..."

"But clearly you don't realize this, because look at you! Going above and beyond for my sake. You not only went and faced Jean, who clearly has some kind of stake in your hide, and saved my life from him, but then healed me? Are you out of your mind?" Robbie huffed. A thousand thoughts were racing through his head, and he wasn't sure which to say. "Is it... it's all for Stephanie, right? She- but why would she care? I-I haven't been," he swallowed, "haven't been good to her. She shouldn't care about me. But...she does, doesn't she?"

Sportacus said nothing, only wrapped grass around his fingers and nodded. Robbie sighed and slumped forward with his face in his hands.

"I've made a mistake." He said with difficulty. "More than one. Mistakes that I should have paid for. But I didn't. Stephanie- Stephanie did. You did too. I can't...I'm angry that you want to help me after that. I'm angry that I don't understand why you care. I'm confused that I'm saying these things to you. Is this the effects of some kind of elf-y honesty spell? I feel weird."

"Extreme healing sometimes loosens up the thoughts in your head." Sportacus answered. "Especially when you have a lot on your heart. Just let it out. You'll feel better."

"Well, I don't see how I could feel worse." Robbie ran his hands down his face. "I just don't know anymore. I know why I did what I did, and I don't think that was wrong. So why did it turn out so...?"

"You were trying your best. I understand that. You wanted to protect Stephanie, right? It was because I took her away, that must have been really scary for you. That was wrong of me to do, I'm sorry." Sportacus looked sincere and a bit sad. "I don't blame you for attacking me. You're not a villain, Robbie. You're a parent!"

"Hah! I'm not a parent!" Snorted Robbie. "Parents pay attention to what their children need. Stephanie wasn't happy with me, she ran away! Her real parents, they- they wouldn't have wanted- I thought they wanted me to keep her safe. To keep the kingdom safe. But I let them all down, in the end. I didn't do enough..."

"You maybe did too much. Kids are going to be kids, you just have to let them. I know you wanted what was best for Stephanie, but it was a little off the mark." 

"Hmph, children don't typically sleep in trees and wear masks and rob people in the dead of night, Sporta-bandit." Robbie quirked an eyebrow at him. "Maybe you spent your life playing Robin Hood, but she's supposed to be royalty. This is how royalty is raised."

"I know." The elf looked at his hands again. "The bandit thing is recent, actually. But I won't pretend to know what a normal childhood is like. I try and do my best for my kids, but I never know if something is missing."

Robbie was intrigued. So Sportacus thought he was a bad parent too, not that either of them were parents. Not that he knew.

"When I was a child, my mother apprenticed me to a wizard," Robbie said before he could think twice. "The Wizard of Lazytown. I was a good magician's apprentice, and I got to live in the castle, which was nice I guess. That's when I met Stephanie's mother. She was a older than me, so I... looked up to her. My only friend was the future queen, isn't that something? She was incorrigible- imagine Stephanie when she's gets those stubborn moods she gets and multiply it by, like, thirteen. We got in trouble. A lot of trouble, sometimes. Martha wanted to go on a quest and I wanted to take a nap. But I grew up and became a knight in her service, and she got married. Didn't stop her from thrill-seeking. She just had someone else to do it with."

"How did you feel about Stephanie's father?"

"At first I hated him. Martha did too, they sort of became rivals when the Blue Knight first showed his face around here. But then she decided to win their game by winning him. His brother-" Robbie cringed. "-his brother, the Purple Knight, came to the engagement banquet. That was a night to remember! But I never fully trusted Jacque -the Blue Knight, that was his name. Because of where he was from and... he was a good man, though. I can see that now. Never bothered with him much when he was here. Martha loved him, and she also loved me."

"Did you see Martha as a... mother kind of friend?" Sportacus asked.

"God. What a question." Robbie straightened up indignantly. "She was a friend, and a protector. Neither of those things I would associate with my actual mother. Martha was family. She is family. So is Stephanie, to me."

Sportacus nodded. He broke off a white flower at the stem and twirled it in his fingers. Queen's lace, Robbie noted the irony.

"So if Stephanie is your family, why is it hard to believe that she cares about you?"

"She doesn't realize how bad I am for her, or well, she realized a few weeks ago when she left, but she shouldn't have come to my rescue. Have you seen her?" Robbie felt his chest ache again but this time knew it was from shame. "Stephanie got hurt because of me. She was in danger because of me. The Purple Knight got his hands on her, and it was all. My. Fault!"

"I'm the one who should have protected the kids!" Sportacus argued. "Going to Rottington put everyone in danger, but I did it anyway. Then we got separated, and you and I were trapped, and you got shot."

"So you regret coming to rescue me?"

"No, no. I just wish that it hadn't gone so horribly wrong... it was a bad night."

"That's an understatement." Robbie sighed deeply. He watched Sportacus put a piece of grass in his mouth. "So, I'm still not sure why you did it, but thanks. For saving me. Really thought I was done for."

"Before or after the arrow?"

"Er, both. During. The whole night. Actually since yesterday morning. Twenty four hours of death on the brain can't be good for my health, so I guess thanks for the healing also."

"Did it work? How do you feel now?"

"Better than normal, I think. I'm tired, but I'm always tired. Also, hungry." His stomach growled as he watched Sportacus eat another piece of grass. Sportacus leapt to his feet, offering him a hand.

"I know how to cure a bad night." He said, brightening. "A good breakfast! Do you like pancakes?"

Robbie's mind was instantly lost in a world of delicious breakfast pastries. He'd eaten nothing since capturing Sportacus the day before last- oh, he should probably apologize for that too. The bandit was smiling down at him, hand outstretched. He took it and wobbled to his feet.

"You need to talk to Stephanie." Sportacus reminded him when he stood on his own.

"I know." Robbie snapped, feeling a bit a bit of panic at the thought. He wasn't sure he was ready to have that conversation, but maybe it would be best to just get it over with. "I'll, I'll talk to her once we've both eaten."

"Good." Sportacus began to lead the way back into the trees, moving slow enough for Robbie to keep pace. They said little to each other on the way back, though there were many questions Robbie wanted to ask. Most of them he felt he too tired to deal with the potential answers. If Sportacus had anything to say, he kept it to himself. Eventually all of Robbie's thoughts became breakfast-related and he marched through the forest almost eagerly. They had just reached the edge of the campsite clearing when Stephanie stepped in his path.

"Good morning, Sir Robbie." Her voice was high and thin, and her eyes didn't look any better though the blood and grime had been cleaned away.

"Hello Stephanie." He made an effort to smile, but suspected that he was only baring his overbite.

"Are you," she cleared her throat. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Never better." He lied. He felt sick. Stephanie balled her fists and her shoulders rose and fell as she took a deep breath.

"I need to talk to you. In the treehouse."

"Up there?" Robbie glanced up at the apple tree. 

"Now."

Sportacus nodded at him and walked away, leaving them alone. Robbie twitched anxiously. There was no avoiding this.

"...okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain't no pancakes for the rotten man
> 
> I would say these guys have earned a little break BUT FIRST-
> 
> eMotioNAL IssUES amiright


	31. Chapter 31

The kids were gathered around the campfire with Jives, who was already cooking pancakes. Lady Busybody had brought a basket of pastries and Milford's cocoa was simmering in a kettle. Jives looked up from the skillet as Sportacus approached. He threw a red apple to the bandit, who caught it despite his surprise. 

"Eat." Jives commanded. He stood and pulled Sportacus aside when he hesitated. "You're hungry. I know cause there's grass in your teeth."

Sportacus rubbed a finger over his teeth, embarrassed. He bit into the apple and chewed slowly under Jives's watchful eyes.

"Thanks." The bandit said after swallowing.

"Finish that whole thing, okay?"

"I will, Jives, I'm fine."

"You can't be 'fine'!" Jives whispered harshly. He pulled him close as they wandered further out of earshot of the campfire. "The kids said you were stuck inside the castle, and your crystal went crazy! Did you meet the Knight? What happened?"

Sportacus blinked at Jives, then ate another bite of the apple before telling him everything he remembered about the previous night's events. 

"Magic doesn't work inside that castle. Why were you able to use it?" Jives wondered when he told him about the crystal and the physics-bending focus it had bestowed him.

"It felt like the kind of magic that was using me." Sportacus admitted with a shrug.

"Yo, sounds like you're more connected to this thing than you knew." Jives reached over and plucked the crystal's amulet from the bandit's shirt. It was dormant and looked completely unchanged.

"I still don't know much about it. I don't know if it was my life or Robbie's that triggered it." 

"Pretty amazing, either way." Jives dropped the crystal to focus on his friend's face. "How do you feel after meeting the Knight again? Pretty shook up, huh?"

"He didn't hurt me."

"That's not what I meant." Jives guided Sportacus to sit with him under the shade of a fallen tree trunk. Sportacus sank to the cool earth, folding his legs before letting out a groan.

"It was my fault- but I didn't have a choice. When I went there, I knew it might be the end. It's looking that way now. The Knight recognized me, he said..." Sportacus swallowed and fidgeted with the apple in his hand.

"What did he say? Something about-"

"He said "he hasn't forgotten you". Oh god, Jives, he's going to turn me in. He's going to come after me. I... I have to leave Lazytown." The last sentence sounded choked, and Sportacus kept his face toward the ground.

"Sportacus, there's always a chance the Knight will be too embarrassed to admit he lost you again. He might not make a move until he has you in his clutches for sure." Jives suggested.

"Then he might come after me here. Endanger my kids." 

"So what, you'll just leave them here alone?"

"I'll leave them with you."

"Yo, you think I wouldn't go wherever you go?" Jives gripped the bandit's shoulder until he turned his face up. "We're brothers no matter what, Ithrotaalfurin."

Sportacus couldn't fight a smile. He reached up and pulled his hat off, revealing his hair to be the only part of him untouched by soot aside from the tops of his pointed ears. Similarly, Jives removed his green cap, his own pointed ears peeking out of the red curls of hair. 

"I'm sorry for not telling you before I left." Sportacus said, relaxing a bit.

"I was afraid I wasn't going to see you again, but don't worry about it." Jives fished a carrot out of his pocket and took a big bite. "Are you sure about leaving? I'm down to abandon my poor garden for you, but you'd be leaving the kids with that Robbie guy."

"Robbie..." Sportacus was suddenly distracted. "I don't know. I would miss them all, but I have to keep them safe."

"About that, I talked about defenses with Lord Milford and I think you'd feel different if you saw what we came up with." Jives chewed his carrot with immense satisfaction. "Just hold off on doing anything drastic for now, okay?"

Sportacus thought for a minute, letting his gaze explore the scenery. It was a typically morning in the woods, calm and cool. The worry in his heart seemed less urgent in the early rays of sun.

"I'll stay for a while." 

"Good. Because I got your back, man. I'm not letting anyone touch you. None of us are. Remember what I told you back then?"

"About how I'm not alone anymore? And I'm never going back?" Sportacus nodded. "I remember."

"No," Jives scolded, winking. "I said you need food. Never forget it."

Wasting no time, Sportacus devoured the rest of the apple.

 

Robbie barely fit in the treehouse. Stephanie had to pull him through the hatch by the arms when it got tight around his middle, and the ceiling was too low for him to stand. But there he was sitting on the floor in front of her, nervous and listening. She almost forgot what to say, but she knew that apologies were in order.

"I don't think I was wrong to run away," Stephanie blurted. It wasn't a great start to an apology, but when Robbie's face showed no signs of offense she continued. "It was just, I was miserable! And you wouldn't listen! And then I met Sportacus and suddenly I was doing things I could only have dreamed of... and I didn't realize what you were going through." She looked at her feet. "Uncle Milford told me about Sir Jean coming to the castle, and how you thought he hired Sportacus to kidnap me. That was probably terrible for you. You must have been so worried. And I never thought you would go to Rottington, I feel so bad! You got hurt!"

"Stephanie." Robbie's voice made her stop and turn her face back to him. He looked tired but calm, with bits of fresh grass clinging to his tunic and waves of fluffy hair sticking up all over his head. Stephanie realized that she may not be talking to the same Robbie she'd left in the castle.

"Stephanie, this isn't your fault. I was supposed take care of you, but apparently I wasn't doing a good job if you weren't happy. If living with Sportacus and his sporta-minions makes you happy, that's where you should be. I might not like it," he glanced away, twiddling his fingers uncomfortably. "I don't like it. But what I want doesn't matter."

Robbie exhaled a deep breath. Stephanie couldn't believe what she was hearing as he continued.

"What matters- what really matters- is that you're safe. Hiding you from Sir Jean certainly didn't keep you safe, thanks to my meddling. In the end, Sporta-loon, for all his strange life choices, did a better job of protecting you than I ever did. I never, ever, ever wanted to see you get hurt. And I never want to again." Robbie hung his head. "Whatever you need to do, I won't try and stop you anymore."

Stephanie rubbed her forearm where her cruel uncle's grip had left a dark bruise. She thought of Robbie as she'd met him in the tower, crumpled on the floor. He had called out to her as Jean dragged her away. Despite being chained and injured, he hadn't been afraid for his own well-being, but for hers.

He had nearly died. Stephanie had nearly watched him bleed out in a moonlit river, a wicked arrow trying to steal his life. She had stood chest deep in the water, squeezing his hand to be sure that he squeezed back. His grip had held all through the long night but still she was so afraid. 

"I don't want to leave you, Robbie. We want different things, but we can still be friends! I don't think you're wrong about everything and I look up to you a lot-" she paused clear her throat. Her voice was raising to a squeak as the threat of tears loomed in her eyes. "I've always looked up to you. And I forgive you for any mistakes you made, because you're learning just like I am. I think- I think we can both do better. I think if we try, we could even be better friends than before, don't you think?"

"We were never friends, my highness." Robbie said in a heavy, barely-controlled voice. Stephanie's breath stilled.

"What?"

"We're family." He was pulling her into a hug, standing on his knees to rest his chin on her shoulder. Stephanie returned his tight embrace, suppressing a sob. She felt she had cried enough. It was Robbie's turn. He sniffled irregularly, his shoulders shaking under her thin arms. 

"You've always been my family," Stephanie laughed a little, realizing how that filled her with joy. "I mean how else could we get along so badly for so long?"

"Badly? We were doing just fine until you met your fairytale hero. Well, can't say I blame you. I'm certainly no Robin Hood."

"Neither is Sportacus. But... I think I like him better than Robin Hood. I like you better, too."

"That's... good. Good to know. I like you too, how you really are. I saw how you spoke to your sleazy vulture of an uncle, you little pink hurricane you. Phew! Made me realize how lucky I've been when you got angry at me in the past." Robbie chuckled in spite of his tears. "If there's anything good to say about Sportacus, he's really brought out your confidence. Or sass at least."

"You don't like Sportacus?" Stephanie pulled away from the hug to quirk an eyebrow at him. "But he just saved your life."

Robbie's eyes darted about, avoiding her convicting gaze.

"I just, you know, haven't spent much time with him. Time that wasn't all danger and violence and games. If I wanted to like him, I would get to know him- but I am grateful for him. Saving me and healing me. And you," he brushed a strand of cropped hair out of her eyes. "For saving you from my abysmal failures."

"You're always so dramatic." Stephanie rolled her eyes. For some reason this made Robbie break into booming laughter, clutching his chest. She frowned in concern. "Does that... it doesn't hurt does it?"

Robbie glanced at where she was pointing and opened his shirt just enough to reveal the wound, which was now nothing but a pink scar.

"Don't worry. Sporta-quack did some of his magical whatnot and kissed it better." He said a little too casually.

"He did what?"

"Er, Nevermind."

"He kissed it?" Stephanie wrinkled her nose in disbelief. 

"That's enough from you. We have a lot to talk about, my highness," Robbie said quickly. His stomach growled as the smell of breakfast came wafting through the treehouse window. "But we have time later. Food comes first, if you don't mind. I expect you're hungry too?"

"Starving. We need some pancakes immediately." She felt her own stomach growling. 

"Look at that! We agree on some things after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm learning some hard lessons lately and I need some guidance from these characters a haha the irony
> 
> Shit's getting in the way of writing right both in my life and in my head sadly :( and I'm not as far into the next section of this story as I wanted to be when this one ended. The next chapter will be the last for this work and the last chapter I post for a (hopefully brief) while...
> 
> I promise I have a bunch of material written already and I knew where this story was going when I started and am REALLY EXCITED TO WRITE IT BUT I CAN'T RIGHT NOW. AAAH. X_X
> 
> thank you to everybody who reads and comments on this, you really make my day every time <3 and stay tuned while I produce the highest quality work I can bc we deserve that good stuff yeah
> 
> uh and no, Jives and Sport aren't actual brothers but they are elves yes so there you have it


	32. Chapter 32

The two had hardly joined the campfire before enormous plates of breakfast were thrust into their hands, and together they polished off a mountain of pancakes before saying more than a word of thanks. Robbie noticed Stephanie yawning, full on food and empty on sleep. He felt ready for a nap himself, but his mind was beginning to churn with other worries.

"I think it's time you got some rest." He insisted, taking the girls plate from her limp hands. She rubbed her eyes.

"What, now?"

"Yes now. Milford, tell your niece to go to bed."

"You do look awfully tired, Stephanie." said Milford sympathetically. "Why don't you go lie down for a while? I promise we won't do anything without you."

"Well... I guess, okay." Stephanie was too exhausted to argue for long. She retired to the treehouse and flopped down onto her mat on the floor. Her sore body welcomed the rest blissfully, but something felt wrong. Shifting onto her side brought no relief and after a moment she registered a rectangular lump under her back. She sat up, moving almost feverishly to draw the book out from under the mat. The diary she had stolen from her mother's room lay in her hands, its faded pink striped cover promising nothing- or perhaps all the answers she could ever hope for. Stephanie was suddenly struck by an important thought.

A document. A written document putting her in the care of uncle Milford. A document that would cancel Jean's claim on Lazytown, and on her.

It could be right in her hands.

Carefully, she opened the cover. The pages were somewhat sticky, but she eased them apart one at a time until she found a page with writing. At first it appeared to be nearly illegible curly handwriting. On closer inspection, Stephanie realized that it was likely an entirely different language. The loopy characters somehow seemed familiar though she didn't really recognize any. She peeled apart more pages covered in the same writing, baffled and disappointed. Some pages were adorned with scratchy drawings, depicting things with scaly bodies and people-like shapes with wings. Stephanie skimmed page after page, freezing on a picture that was different than the rest. It was drawn in soft charcoal, rendering an equally soft face. Her fathers small bright eyes smiled at her from the paper. She touched the portrait gently, not wanting to smudge the black lines. The note on the back of the drawing read in English.

_This man has put me in a terrible predicament. I battle him to win his love but he surrenders so easily. And he smiles he smiles so often- you would think no shadow had touched his life. I told him to stay still for a portrait. Then I told him he was a father. He has been crying since I convinced him I wasn't teasing. I hope the baby doesn't cry as much as him. I haven't the time to kiss two sets of tears. Four, once I tell Milford and Robbie._

_Oh little love. You will be well loved._

Stephanie read the note up and down, over and over. She flipped through a few more pages of foreign handwriting and came upon the tracing of a tiny hand. Written above it:

_Stephanie, a little pink hurricane. A wonderful dancer. Has her father's smile but not his weeping yet. Robbie says she will be trouble. I hope he's right._

The page blurred as her eyes filled with tears. She blinked to keep them from spilling on the paper and took a few seconds for the next page to come into focus. When the letters formed coherent words, Stephanie nearly gasped.

Jacque says I ought to do this, so for his sake I'm writing an official decree: As queen of Lazytown, I declare that in the case of my death or absence, the care of my daughter Stephanie as well as the the land of Lazytown will fall into the hands of my husband, The Blue Knight. And likewise in his death or absence, my child and my throne will the responsibility of my brother Milford.

Stephanie breathed a deep sigh of relief. Here was proof that nothing of hers belonged to Jean. It was perfect in every way, almost too good to be true. She would show it Robbie as soon as-

A folded piece of paper fell from the back of the book. Curious, Stephanie smoothed it out on the open diary. The text was written in plain english.

_Dear Robbie,_

The first line read. Stephanie hesitated, debating the morals of reading such a private thing. Her eyes caught the next few words before she could stop them.

_Dear Robbie,_

_Im so sorry but there's no other way- if you are reading this then I can no longer help you. You know what to do. We've written it many times. I can't ask you to leave Lazytown forever, but I must. I hope you can forgive me and endure one last adventure. For the sake of us all._

_Believe in yourself, Sir Robert. I'm always with you._

_-Martha_

The note slid off the page of the diary and fluttered into Stephanie's lap.

 

Robbie trudged toward the river, a bundle tucked under his arm. Lord Milford had been thoughtful enough to bring him some clean clothes and Bessie had sent him off to bathe. He'd stomped away begrudgingly, though secretly he was looking forward to a bit of private relaxation. The river was cold, he knew, but that was nothing a little pancake breakfast-fueled magic couldn't fix. Just a quick bath and then he would begin working out spells to prevent Sir Jean from waltzing his army into Lazytown. It would be tedious, but necessary. He hummed a bit a he walked, feeling as though he'd forgotten something.

A dapple gray horse emerged suddenly from the trees and Robbie shrieked as he leapt aside to avoid being trampled. Dust rose in clouds from the horse's hooves as it pulled to a halt, turning on him. Robbie caught his breath.

"Skutla! You made it!" He smiled broadly, but Skutla remained aloof. "We didn't forget about you, I swear."

Skutla snorted a skeptical puff of air. He tossed his mane, shaking the reigns of the bridle that remained on his head.

"Oh, right. Right." Robbie hurriedly unlatched the bridle before moving on to the horse's saddle. Free of his tack, Skutla gave Robbie one last nudge before turning and trotting away into the forest. Robbie watched him disappear. He nodded understandingly. Sheriff Lolli would need a new horse.

The warm water enveloped Robbie's grimy body in a welcome embrace. He moved out of the shallows and sank into the river. There was a nice pool a bit upstream, perfect for a soak where he could keep the water hot without much effort. A bathtub would be infinitely better although the change in scenery was refreshing. Robbie settled into the pool and rested his head against a rock, feeling human once again. The sunlight on his face reminded him of how he'd longed to feel it during those long hours in the Knight's tower. If only he could wash the darkness from his memory.

A splash upstream startled his eyes open. His first thought was of alligators, for whatever reason. There were no alligators in Lazytown but being very alone, unarmed and naked it couldn't hurt to take a look. He swam cautiously to the edge of the pool and peered upstream. A waterfall flowed a little ways away, and Robbie could make out a figure standing beneath it. Their back was turned, but the sun glinted off golden hair as the elf ducked under the rushing water. Robbie stared for a few seconds, then caught himself and pulled away back into the pool. He no longer had excuses to be spying on Sportacus. Particularly while undressed. He slogged quickly to the bank where he'd left his clothes, deciding that he was clean enough for the time being.

 

"Hi, Robbie!" Sportacus waved to him. Robbie had trekked back to the campsite with his boots still in hand to find that the bandit had not only beat him back to the clearing, but was already busy tying something to the trees. Seeing no way to avoid him, Robbie moved sheepishly to join him.

"Hello. Sportacus." He cleared his throat. "What are you doing over here?"

"I'm very tired!" Sportacus replied cheerily, an eyelid twitching in agreement.

"Oh. You hide it well."

"Thanks. I'm hanging my hammock up down here in case anyone needs my help while I sleep. You look like you could use a nap yourself," Securing the knot a with a last tug, Sportacus flopped into the hammock. He seemed satisfied with the way it swung and then moved to one side. "There's plenty of room."

Robbie dropped his boots.

"You want me to take a nap with you?" He pointed to where Sportacus reclined. "In that- swinging thing?"

The elf lazily grabbed the tree trunk behind his head, stilling the hammock. He raised his eyebrows at Robbie.

"Grrr...alright. Just a few minutes of sleep before I begin all the very very important things I have to do today." Awkwardly lifting his leg into the hammock, Robbie tumbled across the canvas and into Sportacus's side. He jerked away from the man's surprised face, feeling the tickle of his mustache on his skin once again. Sportacus let his eyelids fall shut once Robbie settled on the far side of the hammock. Robbie folded his arms over his chest stiffly, glancing over at the bandit as he curled toward him slightly, hands cushioning his head. He appeared to be asleep already. What a gift. Robbie yawned. He wouldn't be sleeping so easily, just resting his eyes for a few minutes until he was back in his feet. After all, Sir Robert Rottenham didn't need sleep, and he certainly didn't need anyone-  
His arm dropped over the hammock's side as he let out a snore.

The pink girl dragged her feet across the campsite. It was empty perhaps to let her sleep. But she could not rest her mind, much less her body.

The note to Robbie was shoved back in the diary, once more buried under her mat. It stung to think about what was written there. It stung to think of Robbie leaving. Stephanie wished that he would never be in danger again. Just what was her mother asking him to do? And how could she? Stephanie intended to discover what task was so important that Robbie had to fulfill it. And then she would fulfill it herself. After all, she was the future ruler of Lazytown, not him. If her people were in danger it was up to her to protect them. To protect her family. Her feet stopped when she saw the hammock.

Robbie lay sprawled halfway in the hammock with an arm and foot dangling over the ground. On the other side, Sportacus slept curled toward him. Their feet touched, accidental and unguarded. Stephanie leaned closer to Robbie's face.

"Robbie?" She whispered softly. The man twitched and mumbled something, continuing to snore. Sportacus remained peacefully motionless. Stephanie eyed the space between them, the swaying of the hammock beckoned. It lulled her to sleep when she shut her eyes at last, nestled between hero and villain. Which was which? She mused sleepily. No, here they were all the same. There were no titles, no roles to fulfill for now. Just well-deserved sleep under the shade of the trees.

 

 

The Purple Knight strode across his castle's courtyard, his servant hurrying in his wake. The broken drawbridge was being repaired by a few guards, while others were recovering those left in the moat with a ladder. One man climbed to the top bearing a wolf pelt in his hands. He approached Sir Jean with this gift- and the tale behind it.

"A little boy was wearing this?" Jean stroked the dark fur, then flung it aside. "I don't care! Go get my messenger immediately!"

As the man hurried away, the Knight turned to his eagerly listening servant. Kit was missing another tooth, which he would no doubt want replaced with gold once again.

"Can you believe it? On top of everything else, we may have witnessed _a legendary crystal within these very walls_. And in the hands of the missing elf! Hah!" The Knight tossed his cape and bent to pick up his crooked dagger. It had fallen from the elf's hands into the courtyard during his escape. Jean slid it back into his boot. Until next time. His messenger appeared, a scroll in his hand and a hawk on his shoulder. He readied a pen as his master began to speak.

"Send a message to our allies in Glaumbæ," Jean commanded, gazing through the open drawbridge and out across the bleak plains of his kingdom. "And tell Glæpur that I have found his runaway."

The hawk flew, bearing the message past the castle limits before vanishing with a subtle glimmer of pink magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say
> 
> Writing this thing over summer was a lifeline honestly, and every bit of love you've shown it kept me holding on Im just amazed and floored and by every comment and kudos over the months. I appreciate every single one so much you don't even know. so thank you.
> 
> the third part of this story isn't ready to start posting yet unfortunately and that's disappointing for me but rest assured, the whole arc was planned from the beginning to end although a lot has since been added and I just need some time to sort it out into something readable 
> 
> in the meantime i would love to hear questions, theories or criticism whatever. throw it out there go nuts. reach out to my tumblr blog its also @breakfastandfurious 
> 
> Anyway what Im really saying is hope you enjoyed this closing chapter aaand keep an eye out for the next update if you did ^_~ 
> 
> Take care out there, Lazytowners. Love ya <3


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